Dusk into Darkness
by Cooksiez
Summary: Princess Anna of Arendelle is the sole heir to the throne, though many of the King's advisors do not like her being so, since Anna is a woman. Can she prove herself as deserving of the throne to her father's advisors? The appearance of a dangerous force in North Mountain might be her chance to show her worth. Dark!Elsa AU
1. To Prove Yourself

Quick Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction, so I'd be super grateful if you left constructive feedback for me. Also I'm really bad with procrastinating so I have no idea when I will update, I'll try to get a new chapter out every two weeks or so, but encouragement is more likely to keep me working on it ^-^. I really hope you like the story, and yeah on to the story.

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Black boots clicked angrily through the halls of Arendelle Castle, their owner equally furious as she clutched her sword tightly at her hip, knuckles turning pale, a bundle of papers held in her other hand. The servants working in the main hall quickly removed themselves from the area when they caught a glimpse of the garments worn by the individual storming through the hallways. White pressed pants with a black military coat adorned in medals, lined in the rich forest green color that characterized the royals of Arendelle, a jewel encrusted sword hung comfortably at her hip. Copper colored bangs moved in rhythm with the quick pace of the princess, the rest of her hair held together in a high bun as she made her way towards one of the main meeting rooms of the castle. Coming to the room she was searching for she took a deep inhale of breath to calm her nerves as she approached the carved mahogany of double doors. With a final determined glare she pushed the doors open and entered the meeting room.

All heads in the room turned to the princess at her entrance. The expressions of the room's inhabitants ranged from surprise to distaste to disgust, and finally to the torn expression of the king, a mix of worry and slight disappointment written on his aging features.

"Anna," the king called from his position at the end of the long table that was the centerpiece of the large room, "what are you doing here, what happened to your piano lessons?"

Anna walked to the table giving a quick bow to the king before straightening herself and giving an intense stare to the other officials in the room.

"Father, I apologize for missing my lessons, but this seemed to take precedence over it"

She took the papers she had in her hand and fanned them out in front of her pressing both palms to the wooden long table. The king fixed his daughter with a curious glance as he tried to read the papers from the far side of the table. He motioned his steward over to the table.

"Kai, what are the papers being displayed on the table?"

"They appear to be papers detailing a number of disappearances from the town," the general answered before the steward could make his way to the other side of the table to see the contents of the papers. The general fixed Anna with a warning glare before turning back to the king.

"And what about these papers is so important?" the king asked putting on a stoic expression.

"My guards have been investigating these occurrences for the past few months," the general explained, "they seem to have increased a great deal as of late, all disappearances were of people heading through the North Mountain, travelers, merchants, dignitaries, it matters not who it is, they are never seen from again."

The war room fell into silence. Anna clutched her sword again tightly as she pondered if she should speak up and say what she wanted to say, casting a glance over the occupants of the room she took a deep breath and decided it was now or never.

"I believe it's the Ice Witch doing this" Anna stated, breaking the silence and watched closely at the reactions of everyone.

The room went dead silent as the officials absorbed the princess' words, the silence broken by the deafening hearty laugh of one of the visiting dignitaries.

"Ahhh, that was a good one young lass," he said in his thick Scottish accent, "why don't you go back to your bedtime stories and piano lessons, take the time to get your head out of the clouds."

Anna saw red as she glared fiercely at the man, catching the smirk plastered on the general's face. She chanced looking at her father to gauge his reaction, her heart sank when she saw his crestfallen face, cheeks slightly tinted in the embarrassment of his daughter's outburst.

"Everyone knows the Ice Witch is a legend, what makes you think it's her," the general scoffed, "spewing fairy tales in an official meeting of men, foolish girl"

Anna heard him finish the last part under his breath, though she wasn't the only one to hear the remark.

"Watch yourself, Sir Ivan, she is still my daughter, heir, and future ruler of Arendelle."

Her father sent a threatening look over to his general, calming back into his chair. He cleared his throat to gain the attention of the room, gesturing his arm to the royal treasurer to get his specific attention.

"Lord Rodrick, what is your take on this matter, you are more knowledgeable on the town and their happenings than any other among us."

The treasurer was a tall, thin man with dark greying hair, fingers adorned in a number of gemmed rings. He fidgeted with his rings collecting himself sending a nervous glance around the room.

"Well…the people are, from what I've seen and heard, very much believing it IS the Ice Witch, the legends are deeply rooted in our history, and I would like to state that there is a great many truths in legends."

"But more important than what the peasants think, your highness, is the fact that the North Mountain is a major trade route, the longer these disappearances go on, the more likely merchants and traders will stop wanting to use the path, and we have a great number of other kingdoms that we trade with only through that route, we're losing revenue at an alarming rate, whatever is in those mountains, a witch, bandits, or otherwise must be dealt with."

The treasurer finished, kneading his fingers together resting them on the table and looked downward to avoid the glances of those at the table.

Anna looked around the room assessing the number of faces that were now set in stern contemplation. This was her chance, she could finally prove to them that she could be a successful ruler, and had full right to be heir of Arendelle. No more condescending looks from the general and a few of the other officials, no more feeling like she was a letdown to her father for having been born female, she'd show them that she deserved this, that she'd earned it.

"Father," Anna called, eyebrows furrowing to make a stern expression, "if it would please you, I will personally lead a small team into North Mountain and deal with the problem myself."

All eyes turned to the princess then, gazes burning into her figure as they waited for the king's reply. The glare Sir Ivan was sending her way only made her want to go more, he was silently challenging her, a slight smirk stuck stupidly to his features as he anticipated the king's rejection of her proposal. She desperately wanted to wipe the smug expression off of his face with the back her hand, but she knew the better course of action was to convince her father to let her do this and come back victorious.

"What would your small party plan to do?" The king inquired.

"I would ask for five or six men from the guard to accompany me to investigate the cause of the disappearances in North Mountain, the small number of men should not take too many able men away from protecting Arendelle, and five or six men is an ideal stealth and search team."

"Once we find the problem we should be easily able to take care of it and reopen the trade route within a week or two," Anna replied, "unless the good general believes taking six men would be too much a detriment to his forces, in which case I can take less or go alone."

She fixed the general with a quick smirk before looking towards her father to await his reply. Anna could feel the general seething next to her, anger radiating off of him in waves at her remark.

"Your highness, my men are quite capable of protecting the kingdom, and minus a few men will not change that, her highness could take ten or more men if she so wishes it." The general added, his features displaying his pride for his men.

The king sat in his chair leaning heavily to one side stroking his bearded chin as he pondered his daughter's and the general's words.

"If Sir Ivan doesn't have a problem with a few of his men being used, then I am fine with your plan," the king sighed looking exhausted, "just remember you are my only heir, my only child, and my daughter, be careful, if the situation takes a turn for the worst, you are to return immediately."

"I understand father," Anna replied, expression calm as she bowed to her father, but the gleam in her eyes betrayed her excitement, "I will prepare for the journey I would like to leave tonight, the darkness should help us stay concealed."

"As you wish," the king stood from his chair, signaling the end of the meeting.

"Sir Ivan, I will be in the barracks at dusk to see whom you have deemed worthy for this trip, make sure they are ready to leave." Anna called back to the general as she left the meeting room ahead of everyone else, not bothering to look to see if he heard her, she knew he had heard her.

The princess of Arendelle briskly strode back through the intricate maze halls of the royal castle until she was back in her room, it was a very simple room, dark colored oak drawers lined the wall a queen size bed resting against the back wall, and forest green walls emanated a serene atmosphere in the room. She peered around the room wondering what she should take on her trip, the North Mountain was a full day trip from the castle, and it was nearing the winter season meaning the snow would be thick on the ground. She figured she'd be able to make it to North Mountain by tomorrow night, this would also give her time to learn her men's strengths and weaknesses and come up with a strategy. As Anna went over to her drawers shuffling through all her clothes she realized she had nothing thick enough to stand the cold of the mountain.

Anna decided to go look for the head maid, if there was anything thick enough for Anna to wear into the mountain Gerda would know where it was. Leaving her room she caught the glimpse of one of the servants turning the corner of the hallway. 'They should know where Gerda is' she decided, running down the hallway to trail after them.

"Hey, wait up please" she called as she rounded the corner. Colliding into the maid who had begun washing the windows in one of the main hallways.

The princess blushed furiously, highlighting the freckles that dusted across her nose, as she realized two things. One, she had just tackled one of the maids to the floor in her haste and was in a very compromising position; she was holding herself up above the girl trapping the maid underneath her body. And two, the young maid who had been washing the window had successfully spilt the bucket of water on her white uniform when Anna crashed into her, turning the blouse see through. Without thinking Anna brushed the girl's light brown bangs out of her face to see her better, caught in the girl's beauty and the moment. When the girl flinched at the princess' touch Anna's mind snapped back to attention. She awkwardly crawled back off of the girl before standing up and offering her hand to help the maid, a small smile gracing her features.

"I'm extremely sorry for knocking you down, I was in a rush," Anna apologized, "not that that excuses my behavior of course, and I've caused you to knock over your bucket and spill water, and in affect soak your shirt. I'm so sorry."

A deep blush set in as the maid realized her shirt was now see through, her eyes wide in shock as she crossed her arms over her chest to try and conceal her body from the princess' gaze.

Thinking quickly Anna unbuttoned her military coat, which had a slight wet spot on the torso from where she had accidentally made contact with the maid's body, and removed it from herself revealing a white undershirt.

"Here," Anna rested her military coat around the young girl's shoulders, "and by any chance do you know where Gerda is?"

"Y-your highness, I could not possibly use your coat" the maid stuttered, as she began removing the coat from her being.

"Nonsense, you need it more than I do right now, and you can return it back to my room once it has dried"

"Thank you your highness, I'm grateful," the maid curtsied to Anna, "and Gerda is down in the kitchens overseeing the preparations for the evening meal."

"Perfect!" Anna exclaimed, "why don't you accompany me to the kitchen then, and I'll have someone make you hot chocolate to warm you up, you must be freezing."

The maid nodded quickly and hugged the coat to her tightly as she followed Anna down to the kitchens. The walk was silent the whole way, the only sound present was their shoes as they clicked across the tiles that shined enough to mirror their movements.

Anna could smell the heavenly scent of whatever Gerda was having prepared as they neared the kitchen. She inhaled deeply letting the smell guide her the rest of the way, practically forgetting the world around her.

"Gerda, what is that amazing smell?" she begged as she took her final steps into the kitchen.

Gerda turned away from instructing one of the chefs to see Anna striding in with one of the new maids.

"Ah, Anna I see you still like venturing around the castle at your age," Gerda chortled, "what brings you to the kitchen this time, no one is going to sneak you chocolates at this age."

The princess' cheeks tinted a lively pink as she listened to Gerda's teasing, the downside to Gerda having practically raised her was that the elderly maid knew all of the princess' embarrassing stories.

"I'm not here for chocolate, at least not for myself," Anna gestured to the girl behind her, "I ran into this beautiful young lady by accident in my attempt to find you, and I was hoping to have a hot chocolate made for her to warm her up, she spilt some water on herself and the castle is quite chilly at this time of year."

"Still the flirt I see," Gerda sighed, "but yes we can get Elizabeth a drink to warm her, and what was your business with me your highness?"

"I need some help finding some warm clothing to go in the North Mountain, it appears I have nothing that will be beneficial to my journey, and I'll need it as soon as possible, I'm to meet with Sir Ivan soon and depart."

"Follow me then your highness"

Gerda quickly departed from the kitchen, leaving the staff to finish the preparations for dinner. Anna followed quickly behind trying to keep up.

"It was very nice meeting you Elizabeth," Anna called back, "keep my jacket safe until my return." She left quickly to catch back up with Gerda.

"So princess, if you don't mind me asking, what business do you have in North Mountain?"

"Oh I'm taking a group of men into the mountain to take care of the Ice Witch who has been behind the disappearances of the people in town."

"That'll finally show Sir Ivan and father that I'm capable of ruling this kingdom, if I bring back her head, they'll stop looking down on me." Anna finished a fire in her eyes as she clenched her fists.

Gerda remained silent for a very long time as she led Anna to the queen's old chambers.

"What are we doing at mother's old room?"

"You see, the late Queen Idunn, your mother, originally came from a kingdom much farther north than Arendelle, if there is anything warm enough for you to wear, it will be here."

The old maid slowly opened the door to the queen's chambers, releasing the stale air that had been trapped in there from the years of being closed off after the queen's death. Anna hesitantly took a step into the room as Gerda held the door open for her. It was exactly as she remembered it from her childhood, the walls a dark maroon matching the color of the linen bedspread and the deep black furniture of the room made for a menacing look after all these years.

"Let's do this quickly" Anna stated turning back to Gerda before walking all the way into the room and standing tensely in the middle of the large chamber.

"As you wish your highness"

Gerda talked about Anna's mother as she looked through the drawers and closet for a warm coat or anything useful Anna could take with her on her journey. Recalling all the queen's misadventures in the castle when she first came to Arendelle to be married to the king, and of how she grew to be loved by the people of the kingdom and of Anna's childhood when the queen was still alive.

A tear escaped onto Anna's cheek as she listened to the head maid's words, she could barely remember her mother from her childhood, she could only recall a feeling of warmth and happiness at the memory of her mother, and the feeling of emptiness at her passing. The princess wiped the tear from her cheek and made her way to the grand closet that her mother had, feeling over the material of all the dresses her mother owned. Her hand stopped when she felt the soft material of fur, when she peered at the piece of clothing she furrowed her brow in confusion. She had never seen this before, the dark grey color of the cloak was not something her mother had ever worn.

"Gerda what's this?" Anna questioned pulling the article from the closet and displaying it across the bed.

"This is the cloak your mother wore when she first arrived here," Gerda answered running her hands through the thick fur of the piece of clothing, "it would be quite useful to your journey, it's very thick and warm, quite heavy though."

"I think I will take it with me" Anna replied off handedly losing herself in the memory of her mother as she draped the cloak around her shoulders. It was indeed heavy that was for sure. The princess smiled fondly to herself as she left the room, Gerda following closely behind her.

"I'll be heading to the barracks, to meet with Sir Ivan," Anna stated. "please have a horse and supplies readied for my journey."

"Yes your highness," Gerda curtsied and departed, "be safe Anna"

Anna almost missed the woman's last words as she strutted through the hall focusing on her route to the barracks. She looked out the second story window toward the guard training courtyard where the barracks resided, it was almost dusk, the sun had started to sink under the mountains, casting an array of colors through the sky; pinks, crimsons, and oranges, all splayed out like the oil paintings of the art gallery of the castle, but the purples had yet to display themselves among the other colors. Shaking herself from the mesmerizing scene, Anna continued her journey down to the barracks.

By the time Anna had made it down the stairs and into the courtyard seven figures were standing in a line awaiting her arrival. She could make out Sir Ivan as he stood a bit out of line from the other six men, but as Anna approached the line she realized most of the "men" the general had gathered were around her age. Most scrawny and in no way guard material yet, most likely it was a fresh batch of trainees.

"So these are the _men_ you brought for me?" Anna questioned quirking her eyebrow. 'I should've known he'd get back at me in one way or another' the princess internally scolded herself.

"Yes, your highness, these young men want to be guards, and I'm using your little outing as a way to test if they are guard material, I'd like you to evaluate them as you progress about your day."

Anna sized up the six men at a glance, and the only thing she could tell from said first glance was that most of them did _not_ look like guard material, but neither did any of the guards before they went through training. She walked up to the group, holding her hands behind her back, and started at the left side of the line of men.

"Okay well introduce yourselves," Anna ordered using her best commanding royal tone, "we're going to be working together for the next few days as I assess you, apparently, so I'd like to know you a bit more."

The princess nodded towards the first man in line, he seemed well built enough, a bit rough around the edges but otherwise okay, though she noted the look he was giving her, a condescending smirk smeared across his face and a hungry look in his eyes.

"The name's Alexander, though you can call me whatever you want" he finished with a wink as he licked his lips.

'Well we're going to have to fix this real quick' Anna thought as she reared her right fist back and punched the boy directly in his nose sending him to the ground before anyone had time to react.

"Go run laps around the barracks until I call you back," Anna smirked looking down her nose at Alexander, "and when you come back you get to try your introduction again, is that clear?"

Holding his now bleeding nose shut, Alexander nodded silently and got up as he started jogging towards the barracks spewing profanities under his breath as he went along. At his reaction, Anna smiled brightly and turned back to the line watching as they stood straighter as she looked at them. 'Perfect'

"So who's next?"

"Hi!" a short boy, most likely around her age, with extremely scrawny features stood in front of her, "I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs"

He smiled brightly buck teeth standing proudly at attention as he jumped out of line to give the princess a tight embrace. Anna just stood there dumbfounded as she sent a glare towards the general who was trying to hide his chuckling.

"Good to know," she sighed heavily and tousled his short messy dark brown hair, but to her disappointment that didn't seem to register to him as a time to let go.

"I apologize princess," the largest man she had ever seen in her life walked up and pried the boy off of her, "for my older brother, he'll grow on you though." The human mountain finished with a small smile.

"And you are?" Anna asked studying the man's build, he was a few feet taller than her, possibly 7 feet tall, she wasn't sure, but he had muscles, and was well build, all in all she was glad he was on her side.

"My name's Marshall—"

"Marshmallow" Olaf giggled cutting him off and hugging him; Anna wasn't surprised that Olaf's head only made it to Marshall's mid torso.

Marshall sighed then and surrendered under his brother's hugging attack. Anna left it at that and moved down the line to a pair of twins.

"Hi we're Thomas and Gregory," the twin on Anna's right stated pointing to him and his brother, "and we're here as punishment for a crime, but we'll try to behave, right Gregory" The other twin nodded solemnly.

"And why isn't your brother saying anything?" Anna inquired.

"Oh he bad mouthed a lord and got his tongue cut out," Thomas laughed nervously earning a scowl from his brother, "we won't be making that mistake again" he finished with a bow to the princess. Anna gave a quick smile to the both of them and moved on to the last man.

"And last?"

"Your highness," the man stepped forward and bowed deeply to the royal, "my name is Hans, and I look _very_ forward to working with you."

Anna had to force herself to not break her royal visage as she looked over Hans. He was gorgeous, perfect auburn locks, beautiful build, perfectly sculpted face, with groomed sideburns and the most alluring hazel eyes the princess had ever seen. She almost lost herself in him when she looked down the line, her mind snapped back to reality when she realized she was missing one. 'Oh right, Alexander' she grimaced at the thought.

"Alexander" she thundered across the field. The group stood there for a few minutes waiting for Alexander to return, when he did he was heavily panting, though he wasn't holding his nose anymore and the bleeding had stopped. He stopped back in his spot in line next to Olaf, eyes trained on the princess, the hunger was absent from his gaze filled instead by exhaustion.

"Nice of you to join us," Anna walked back to the front of the line, "and you are?"

"My name is Alexander, your highness," he stood then straightening himself from his tired disheveled posture, "and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Anna noticed the smirk was still on his face, but it wasn't an unfriendly one this time. She looked over her group taking in each ones appearance and initial personality, she had a lot of work to do with them, but they seemed pretty okay all around.

"Okay men I hope you're ready for the journey, dress warmly for the North Mountain because we will be leaving within the hour, I'll meet you all at the front gates. Your horses should already be there."

Anna sent one last glare at the general before heading over to the stables where her horse would be waiting for her. She hadn't had much time to mentally think over what this mission would entail. She figured there were certain steps she should follow as a basis for her mission. 'One: Go to North Mountain and figure out what was causing the disappearances, whether bandits or the Ice Witch, whose very existence was questionable at this point in time. Two: Figure out a course of action, utilizing her group's strengths, once she figured them out. Three: Take out the problem by any means necessary.'


	2. A Meeting with Fate(Part 1)

The sun had set by the time Anna made her way to the stables. Fires had been lit inside lanterns around the stables to illuminate the area, though it didn't help much with the low almost nonexistent glow of the waning moon in the night sky. Anna squinted to make out the silhouette of one of the servants holding on to her horse's reins, her bags securely strapped to it. As she closed in on the figure she realized it was Kai holding the reins of her horse, his friendly smile distorted into a wicked grin by the lights from the lantern's flames dancing across his face. Anna shook the feeling as she approached her beloved companion, gently petting it as she brought a kiss to its nose. The horse whinnied happily shaking its head in response and Anna smiled brightly before turning her attention back to Kai.

"Good evening Kai," Anna said in a reserved tone, petting her horse absentmindedly, "thank you for having Lianna prepared for me."

"My pleasure your highness," Kai responded, "and Gerda informed me that she placed some sweets in the side pack for you on your journey."

The princess grinned widely at the knowledge that she'd have chocolate on her trip. She scanned the sky again pointing out the constellations she saw in her mind, it was getting pretty late, the moon was higher in the sky now.

"Well, I should be heading out now," she sighed heavily, "my hour is almost up, and I need to go to the front gate."

Anna adjusted her mother's thick fur coat and took the reins from Kai, waving meekly at the man before leading her companion to the front gates of Arendelle castle to meet up with her men.

The walk to the front gates was peaceful, there were no lanterns along the lower castle walls so Anna had to make her way back by memory. A cold wintry breeze brushed against her as she walked but with her mother's coat it felt refreshing in a way, she sighed contently brushing her bangs out of her face, only to have them fall right back into place, and picked up her pace to the front gates.

Upon arrival to the gates she heard the muffled shouts of her men as she saw their silhouettes crowding around one of the horses, the rest of the horses packed and left standing together. Anna began jogging over to the group, Lianna trotting behind her to keep up, and whistled at the men to gain their attention.

"What's going on out here?"

"This one can't even get on his horse, your highness" Alexander huffed as he walked up to meet halfway with Anna and pointed back at Olaf.

The princess looked over Alexander's shoulder to see a figure sprawled over the saddle of the surrounded horse, caught in a fit of a giggles. Anna exhaled slowly, putting on her royal mask as she swallowed down the laughter that threatened to escape her throat at the situation. She gave a quick nod to Alexander before giving him Lianna's reins and gesturing for him to put her companion with the rest of the horses. He bowed quickly to her before leading her horse away.

She inhaled deeply puffing out her chest as she walked briskly over to Olaf and the rest of her men. They parted when they saw her approach so she could easily make her way to the horse Olaf was trying, to no avail, to get onto.

"Go help Alexander double check that we have everything for our journey" Anna pointed to the twins and Hans to indicate who the command was directed towards.

The twins nodded in unison before dashing over to the other horses who all were packed with supplies identical to the packs situated on the princess' horse, minus her special stash of chocolate. Anna gave a last glance over to the horses before walking up to Olaf's horse and removing the small young man from his mount that had begun fidgeting and moving around in a way that signaled to Anna that he might break into a panic soon. She threw Olaf a pointed look before making her way to the front of his horse. Patting the beast's shoulder lovingly, Anna cupped the horse's muzzle resting her head gently on his as she whispered reassurances to the horse to calm it down. It pricked its ears in the princess' direction and slowly relaxed huffing slightly before it came to a standstill.

"There we go" she cooed petting the horse's neck.

"So what seems to be the problem here" Anna said sternly as she turned back to Olaf and Marshall.

"My apologies your hi—" the younger brother started before being curtly cut off by Anna.

"I rather hear it from Olaf if you don't mind."

Olaf walked forward distancing himself from his brother, his posture clearly nervous as he clasped his hands tightly in front of himself.

"I'm sorry Princess Anna, I'm having trouble getting on the horse." He looked up at Anna with the biggest puppy dog eyes she had ever seen before, she had to fight back the urge to turn away from his pleading gaze.

"Have you never ridden a horse before, Olaf?" she coughed into her fist. Both brothers shook their heads in response to her question.

"I see."

"You know how to ride a horse I hope Marshall"

"I do your highness" Marshall replied gruffly.

"Well good then, though we do not have the extra time to teach Olaf how to ride a horse," she hummed to herself in thought, "so he will ride with me and his horse will be tied to yours since we need the supplies still."

"Do either of you oppose this idea?"

Marshall stood rigid behind Olaf, tension setting in on his posture. Olaf just vigorously shook his head a small smile on his face. Anna gave them both a curt nod before turning around and making her way back to the horses leading Olaf's horse back with her. They both followed behind the princess, Olaf skipping next to his stoic brother who was eyeing him worriedly.

"Is everything we need packed?" Anna asked as they came closer to the horses.

"Yes your highness" the group answered in ill-timed unison.

"Good" She went over to her companion's saddle bag and pulled out a coil of rope before tying a large noose on both ends of the thick thread. After tying the knots she threw one end over the head of Marshall's horse and the other end over Olaf's mount.

"Make sure you keep up okay" She spoke lovingly at Olaf's horse giving it a quick kiss to the nose before turning back to the others.

Walking over to Lianna she told her men to mount as they would be heading out on their journey now. She called Olaf to her and lifted the small man, with little exertion on her part, onto the horse before quickly climbing on after adjusting her sword out of the way as she situated herself behind him. Her men quickly mounted their horses after her and positioned their horses behind the princess.

"Try to be quiet as we head through the town, there's no reason to wake the citizens at this time of night" she called back to her men as they set off across the massive stone bridge that divided Arendelle castle from the town it resided in.

The group moved swiftly through the town, no one speaking as they galloped through the cobblestone streets. Anna silently thanked the gods for the preferable weather as they made their way towards the end of town. Though the wind was cold as it whisked past the group she was glad it wasn't snowing except for a few stray snowflakes that made their way down from the heavens. Anna pulled the reins of her horse stopping abruptly as they came to the edge of the forest, positioning her horse so that she could speak to her men. Her men halted quickly and sent confused and questioning glances at one another, their horses kicking up snow, neighing in protest as they tried not to collide with each other.

"Why have we stopped your highness?" Hans questioned as he slid his hand through his windblown hair to set it back into place.

Anna stared at him blankly before a soft chuckle from Olaf shook her from her trance.

"Thank you for asking Hans," she smiled, "I have stopped so as to give you a rundown of what our course of action will be on this mission and/or test run that I will be giving you." They all nodded in unison waiting for the princess to go on.

"This will be a three day trip; day one, we will make our way to the clearing which is halfway between Arendelle and the North Mountain and will train the following day so I can assess your strengths and weaknesses," Anna saw a smirk form on Alexander's face at the prospect of showing off, "day two, will be the day we make it to North Mountain and investigate the perpetrator behind the town's missing persons and take care of said problem. And day three is the trek back home from North Mountain."

"Sounds good to me," Alexander snorted smugly, "just hope you lot don't embarrass yourselves when you have to train next to me." His signature smirk returned to his face.

"Don't think I can do any worse than getting punched in the face within the first minute of meeting someone" Thomas retorted earning a laugh from the whole group, a scowl forming on Alexander's face at the comment.

Anna hid her chuckle behind a cough as she commanded the attention of the group back to herself.

"I'm pleased that you're so enthusiastic Alexander, but you'll all be fighting me, not each other," Anna smirked, chest slightly puffing out as her groups' eyes all widened in shock, "now let's be on our way, I want to be to the clearing before day break."

Finishing her speech she snapped Lianna's reins and headed into the forest, Olaf giggling as he tried to grab at the cloud of snow that whipped up behind them. Her men quickly snapped out of their stupor and followed behind her through the generously spaced dying trees that called this forest their home.

The ride up to the clearing was rather enjoyable to the princess, she kept at the front leading the group, occasionally readjusting Olaf in front of her whenever he leaned to far one way or another on her horse and was about to fall off. And she listened intently to conversations going on behind her. Most of the time it was Alexander and Thomas bickering back and forth with each other along with some light hearted banter, and occasionally when she looked back she could see Gregory silently agreeing with almost whatever his brother was saying at the time. During one short conversation Anna made out Hans' voice through the wind as he tried to make conversation with Marshall, the conversation didn't last long though since the larger man gave short vague answers to the auburn. Which at receiving the cold shoulder from Marshall, Alexander and Thomas decided to coax Hans into joining their current conversation on the merits of having prostitutes working at or around taverns and how it was good for the soul and the kingdom's economy. Anna huffed air at the conversation not deeming it worthy of her attention, until the group brought the conversation to her.

"So princess," Alexander started ushering his horse until it rode alongside Anna's, "have you ever been down to the taverns in Arendelle?"

"Of course not" she replied quickly adjusting Olaf again as he leaned in too close to Alexander.

"That's a real shame your highness," Thomas started as he quickened up his pace to get into the conversation, "I figured you were the type to have some fun now and then, there's a lot of _entertainment_ there, they have something for whatever you fancy." A devious grin formed on Gregory's face as he came up next to his brother.

"I have no desire to know what you're implying with that, but as a royal and only heir to the throne, I have certain expectations to uphold and duties that have to be carried out, I have no time to go to the taverns or do anything unheard of with maidens or men. Not that I'm interested in maidens anyway." She snapped the reins again and burst off ahead of the group taking the lead. Everyone quieted down after that save for Alexander and Thomas whispering to each other. Sighing heavily Anna settled in back to her thoughts as she navigated Lianna through the trees. 'It's not like I'd mind going to a tavern, the servants seem to have good times there from what I've heard' the princess mused. Anna was shaken from her thoughts when she caught eye of an 'X' carved into the trunk of one of the trees she was passing, and also took note of the ever thickening snow in front her.

"We're almost there, most likely only a half-hour away now, though we'll have to slow down for the thickening snow, so I'd estimate we'll be to the clearing in an hour."

"Good," Thomas called from behind, most likely directing the comment at Gregory or Alexander, "my backside is starting to go numb, I'm not used to this much horse travel."

Everyone nodded in agreement except for Hans, who appeared to be as comfortable atop his horse as he would be sitting in a plush chair, and Marshall who was keeping a watchful eye on Olaf. Anna caught Marshall's eye before turning to see why he was staring so intently at his brother. Looking down at Olaf she saw his dark brown hair and the head it covered slowly nodding off to the side as quiet snores escaped him. She sighed kneading her gloved fingers into her temple before gently shaking Olaf's shoulder being careful not to push him off the horse.

"Hey, you need to stay awake until we get to camp, we're almost there." She coaxed him awake and he nodded in affirmation rubbing at his eyes.

"Awww, poor baby needs to rest and go beddy-by" Alexander snorted loudly. He was about to continue when Marshall guided his horse next to Alexander's and grabbed the man by the collar causing the whole group to stop.

Marshall didn't say anything to Alexander, just stared into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity to everyone before throwing Alexander off his mount and into two feet of powdery snow. Emerging from the snow indent of his fall slightly shivering from the cold contact to his skin, Alexander climbed back up onto his horse and brushed the remaining powder from his shoulders, a frown replacing his normal smirk.

"Hey sure beats a bloody nose eh?" Thomas laughed giving the frowning man a hard pat to the shoulder.

"Shut up"

"You sure have a way with people" Hans commented from the back of the group.

"Whatever, let's just get to the clearing"

"As you wish, your grumpiness" Anna chimed in with the taunting.

Everyone went silent, all eyes fixed on Anna, shock clearly displayed on their features, giving her a long moment to fidget nervously in her saddle, someone's chuckle broke the tense air and following it, a chorus of everyone else's laughter chimed in. Anna exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Don't worry your highness," Alexander said noticing the princess' nervousness, "just like with all things, being funny takes practice."

"Unless you're a natural at it like me." Thomas added with expert timing.

She smiled back at them before resuming their journey, going at a much slower pace now as Lianna was trekking through the knee deep snow. Anna had to shake Olaf every so often to make sure that he didn't fall asleep, but other than that the rest of the trip fell back into a peaceful lull. Thomas and Gregory were trying to coax Alexander out of his now grumpy mood, Marshall was silent the rest of the time though he almost nodded off a few times before shaking himself awake, and Hans was listening intently to whatever was being said in the conversations in our group, a small smile plastered on his face.

Anna halted the group with a gesture of her hand as they reached the clearing. The snow was visibly shallower here, which the princess was extremely thankful for after their long journey, it would make the next order of business that much easier. Asking Olaf to hold onto the reins of her horse she jumped off gracefully landing in the crisp snow below her. She noted that its deepness went to the height of her shins, before she began walking deeper into the clearing. A smile made its way to the princess' face as she relished the crunch sound of the snow with each step she took. She stopped her walking when they made it to the approximate center of the wide open area.

"This is the fun part now," she told her group, "we have to clear an area for ourselves, so start digging the snow out of the way."

"Alexander, Thomas, Gregory, and Olaf, you will be staying here clearing a space for our things and setting up camp, don't get lazy on me because I do not wish to sleep on top of cold, wet snow. Hans and Marshall, you're coming with me to go collect firewood so we can try and keep warm tonight."

Her group nodded affirmative before dismounting and leading their horses to an area where some grass was visible for the horses to graze on. Marshall and Hans soon joined up with Anna after she helped Olaf down from the saddle and sent him to where Gregory and Thomas had started a make shift snowball fight.

"Hey make sure you actually do your job," Anna called back as they walked to the edge of where the forest resumed, "the ground better be spotless of snow when we get back."

They all called back affirmatives as the firewood searching team went out of ear shot.

Marshall, Hans, and Anna walked off in different directions collecting as many dry pieces of wood as they could find. They stayed within earshot of each other and talked about trivial things so that they knew where the others were at all times. Marshall, and Hans met back up with Anna in the center of their self-made perimeter of collecting area after they had collected a good amount of wood in the designated area.

"Let's move on to the next area," Anna suggested heaving her carried wood back into place, "it's only a couple paces beyond here and we can head back to camp afterward."

Hans and Marshall both nodded behind their stacks and followed after the princess.

"So how much older is Olaf than you, Marshall?" Anna asked when she noticed the walk was starting to get eerily quiet in the dark hours of the night.

"Three years older, your highness"

"What! That many I thought he was possibly only a couple months older or something." She exclaimed loudly into the night air. Startling a few woodland creatures that scattered at the sound of her voice.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful your highness," Marshall began, "but please cease talking." His body tensed and he peered around their surroundings, though Anna didn't notice as she huffed disdainfully at his comment.

"I'm not buying it, not for a minu—" she was cut off by his large hand covering her mouth. His eyes pleading with her to quiet down. So she did, wondering what had caused the sudden chill in the group's atmosphere. She listened in on the dark forest hoping to hear whatever Marshall had, though if there was something out there they'd have to react perfectly, the darkness of the forest putting them at a heavy disadvantage. A feral scream erupted as a figure flew out from the darkness, their makeshift weapon aimed straight for Anna. She tried to draw her sword in time, dropping the wood pile at her feet, though the leather clasp covering the hilt proved to be a deadly mistake. And during this eternal second Anna had the time to analyze the situation clearly, her mind emptying, white noise playing in her consciousness at the sight of a half dozen men emerging from the shadows.

But before the man's rusted knife made contact with Anna, Marshall had managed to get in between them and throw his pile of wood at the attacker knocking him to the ground. Anna drew her sword from its scabbard, her brain snapping to attention and began fighting with her attackers. Another rather tall muscular man came charging at her, she easily sidestepped his advance, slapping the black iron frying pan from his grasp with the flat of her blade and sending the hilt of her blade into the back of his neck effectively knocking the brute out. She turned to see Marshall intimidating two men down into submission, and Hans standing in the middle of crimson colored snow, two limp bodies at his feet as he attacked mercilessly at the last man standing. The man was clearly out matched and at the receiving end of the auburn's brutality. A cold shiver made its way through Anna as she starred shocked at the serene features gracing Han's face as he stabbed the last man through the back after deliberately throwing him into the snow. The princess' features quickly jumped to alarm as she saw Hans make his way over to the men by Marshall, his actions seeming stiff as if sent into a trance.

"Woah, it's over Hans they can't do anything anymore, we're fine now" Anna reasoned running in front of him and placing a firm palm to his blood covered chest. He blinked in response as his features visibly loosened.

"I-I'm sorry your highness," he stated, his eyes softening as they gazed at the girl in front of him, "I seem to have gotten caught in the moment." He laughed half-heartedly sliding a gloved hand through his hair.

She withdrew her gloved hands from his chest, noticing the still warm blood that now covered them. Anna turned quickly ignoring the nauseous feeling that seemed to settle in her stomach and made her way to the last two men who were sitting nervously under Marshall's watchful gaze.

"So it would seem bandits really were the cause behind the town's disappearances" Anna reasoned aloud as she came up to the men. A sigh escaping her at the slight disappointment of the mundane turn of events.

"What have you done with the missing citizens of Arendelle. Speak." She commanded pointing her sword at their throats.

"We're not bandits your highness" One said, the other nodding fervently in agreement.

Anna took in their appearances, the one who spoke was on the thin side, slightly torn clothes, and hollowed features. The other was thick, not overly thick like some of the dignitaries that visited Arendelle on occasion, but portly in a sense.

"Not bandits," the princess rolled the words around in her mouth, "you have a funny way of proving otherwise."

"We apologize," the stout man began, lowering his gaze, "we've been lost and stranded in this forest for a few weeks, we have no supplies, and we were just desperate from hunger."

"We were travelers before this, Tim and Joseph were traders travelling with us through the North Mountain."

"That would explain the frying pan."

Hans and Olaf gave her a questioning look at the mention of the kitchen utensil. She ignored their looks and focused on the men.

"They could be lying your highness," Marshall said, "they shouldn't be hungry with all the game that's running through this forest, we could probably feed the orphanage in Arendelle for a whole month with just the animals I've seen on our short trip." The princess quirked an eyebrow as she contemplated Marshall's logic, he did have point, unless their whole group had poor hunters, though that didn't seem likely.

"We were catching game until the Ice Witch started sending her snow golems after anyone who killed animals within her territory, we started off with eleven people in our party."

The captured men shivered visibly as the memory of what they had witnessed danced behind their eyes.

"So it is the Ice Witch!" Anna exclaimed loudly a grin erupting on her face until she realized her outburst.

"Well despite the rough meeting, if you tell me where the sorceress resides I will give you a map and a horse to get you to Arendelle where you can do what you will from there."

Both men perked at the princess' offer, a deep gratitude displayed in their eyes. Anna smiled brightly at them offering a hand to help them up from the snow.

"Now that that's over we can collect our wood and head back to camp, oh, and Marshall can you carry back their friend over there, he's unconscious"

Marshall nodded and went to retrieve the man draping his bulky form across his shoulders, wearing the man like a cape and dragging him along behind the group. The two new additions to their group shuffled around picking up the mass amount of firewood that littered the snow around them. The walk back was tense but quick, the two travelers keeping a fair distance away from Hans, mostly making conversation between themselves or otherwise talking to Marshall or Anna.

When they arrived back at the clearing Anna, to her pleasant surprise, found the campsite set up with a wide area of snowless ground around it and large piles of snow packed a nice distance away from the camp. A grin setting on her face as she made out the figures of Alexander and the twins playing cards.

"Ah finally," Alexander called when he saw the group, "startup that fire so I can see the cards right, I'm getting a headache from squinting at them so much." Thomas chuckled from his spot across from Alexander nodding his head in agreement to Alexander's statement.

"Where is Olaf?" Marshall asked sternly dragging his unconscious baggage to the campsite before unceremoniously dropping him.

"Oh he's fine" Thomas started.

"Yeah, the little guy just fell asleep a while ago, not that I can blame him, he's the one who moved most of the snow before we even started working, I was quite impressed."

The huge man sighed in relief before heading into the tents to check on his elder brother. Anna quirked a surprised brow at the compliment before settling into the area. Throughout the next half hour, Anna and Hans went about starting up a fire in the middle of the campsite. Their new companions retired soon after that taking one of the extra blankets and curling up around their unconscious friend.

Marshall emerged from the tent after a while and sat down around the fire with Hans and Anna who were discussing the personalities of Hans' twelve older brothers.

"So what's your story?" Hans asked as soon as he finished.

"Yeah I want to know too," Alexander called from the designated playing card area, "why did a small man like Olaf decide to join the guard, I'm assuming it's linked to your reason for joining, since you're brothers?"

Anna saw a look of pain and sadness cross the large man's features as he gazed into the sky, arms holding his knees to his chest.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to" She said in a quiet gentle tone.

"It's fine your highness," he replied a sad smile on his face, "after all we're a team now." After a quick pause he took a quick breath closing his eyes as he collected his thoughts. Then upon opening them he sighed and started talking as he gazed blankly into the fire.

"So to start off Olaf and I joined the guard for the safety of it, that might seem ironic I guess, since once you're a guard you are expected to fight and battle and die for your kingdom. But when you're starving and living on the streets, a promise of a bed and routine meals is worth the dangers afterward." A hollow chuckle escaped him then, and everyone stared intently at him immediately sucked into his tale, waiting for him to continue. "We survived for ten years on the streets before joining the guard, eating scraps, living in the gutter, I worked a few odd jobs now and then when I was old enough to get money to eat, but nobody likes street rat kids around so that never helped much. And all the while my brother smiled, trying to cheer me up and look on the bright side of it all. Taking care of me whenever I got sick, always giving what little food we got to me saying I needed to grow strong for the both of us. I feel guilty every time I look at him, it's _my_ fault he's so frail." Marshall couldn't continue after that, silent sobs closing his throat as he hid his head in his arms shoulders shaking in rhythm with his heavy breathing. The group remained silent for what seemed like hours, crestfallen faces watching the usually calm and collected man shake under the pressure of his memories.

* * *

Author's Note:

So I hope you liked the update, I had a lot of feels writing it, especially at the end. I cried when I was writing it, but yeah this is the first part of chapter 2...it turned out to be WAAAAY too long if I wrote it together since I like medium length chapters (they're less intimidating) and yeah gonna write and post part 2 soon I hope before next weekend, though I don't make any promises about that. Please review or tell me if there are grammar or spelling mistakes, I've reread it a few times but I'm human, I make mistakes and I might have missed something, and tell me if you like it.


	3. A Meeting with Fate(Part 2)

Author's Note: So here is part 2 to the second chapter, it came out waaaay longer than I expected, and I kind of had to quicken up the pace at the end, so I apologize if it isn't good.

Warning(s): There is a good bit of violence and blood and other things in this chapter nothing too bad. And also some character death, which I apologize for but it had to be done.

Once again, I hope you enjoy it and please leave your thoughts and feelings about the chapter since I like hearing your opinions about it. I hope I wrote it well enough and if not then I'm sorry and I'll fix it if you let me know what that problem is. Love you guys and see you soon.

* * *

Anna awoke early the next morning, her rough sleeping arrangements along with the sunlight filtering through her tent made it impossible for her to sleep any longer. She stretched hearing a few gratifying pops of her back before she pulled her tent curtain out of the way and climbed out. The fresh morning air was a drastic contrast to the warmth of her fur blankets in the tent and she pulled her black cloak tightly around her to block the breeze. As Anna squinted from the painfully bright rays of the sun she heard muffled chuckling from a distant area of the clearing. Shielding her eyes she peered around walking in the direction of the noise until she saw Marshall and Olaf who were playing in the snow, several variously sized snow angels indented in the area around them.

"Good m-morning y-your highness" Marshall greeted quickly trying to hide his laughter behind his hand.

"Your hair looks ridiculous" Olaf snorted rolling over into the snow.

Marshall nudged him in the ribs gently trying to get his brother to cease talking, but Anna's eyes widened in horror at the realization of what they was most likely seeing. Anna reached up to her head trying to feel out how horrendous her hair had become from her tossing and turning during the night. Her lips went into a deep frown when she felt how bad it was.

"When you came out of your tent I thought it was catching on fire" the small man added his eyes watering as he grasped at his stomach trying to take air into his lungs between fits of laughter.

Anna sprinted back into her tent scattering her belongings around until she found her brush under her pillow. She quickly ran it through her hair taming it back into her neat bun before exiting. She stood straight as she exited brushing imaginary dust from her uniform, tidying it up as she made her way back to the two brothers. She eyed them seriously as she returned but deflated the moment she got close enough to see their eyes, they were both still laughing hard, trying to calm down from their fits.

"Okay if you don't tell everyone else about this I'll share my stash of chocolates with you" She tried to bargain with them. She looked around nervously making sure no one else was up to have seen her morning appearance before turning back to them and pleading for them to accept.

Olaf stilled at the mention of chocolate, his eyes gleaming in anticipation at the taste of the sweet. He nodded enthusiastically in acceptance of the princess' proposal.

"So you two won't breathe a word about this?" She questioned.

"Not even a syllable" Marshall replied as he smiled up at her putting a fist to his heart as a mark of his promise.

'Well he seems to be doing better' Anna thought as she raced over to her horse grabbing her chocolate stash from Lianna's side bag then returned back to Olaf and Marshall.

"Okay so two pieces for you," she handed the chocolates to Marshall, "two pieces for you," she handed Olaf his chocolates, "and three pieces for me." Anna smiled brightly as she dropped the cold hard sweets into her mouth and let them warm there. Olaf yelped in pain when he tried to bite straight into the chocolate.

"You shuld le' the choc-lat melt in yo mouth befoe chewin'" Anna said around her mouthful of candies.

The three sat there in silence for few minutes as they let the small chocolates thaw in their mouth. Anna gazed up at the sky during that time admiring the clear whether, 'This'll be perfect for training, it'll be warmer by the time we start training and it doesn't look like it'll snow at all today'.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better this morning Marshall" Anna said leisurely after she had finally chewed and swallowed her treat.

"Wha?" Olaf looked at his brother with a perplexed look, "Were you not feeling well last night, I shouldn't have fallen asleep I'm sorry." His face grew worried but Marshall just smiled down at him using his hands to mold Olaf's face into a smile.

"Don't worry big brother, I feel a lot better now so don't frown, I'm fine."

Olaf threw a handful of snow at Marshall to get him to let go of his face and Anna sat back laughing at their sibling antics.

"Okay, calm down, we have to get ready for today's training and I don't want you tired before we even begin." Anna commanded loudly after the brother's banter turned into an intense snowball fight.

Anna went through the camp waking her men from their slumber. Some awoke better than others; Alexander yawned and grumbled under his breath about the ungodly hour, Hans came out of his tent with a tired smile and a quick stretch, and the twins were bickering about who hogged the tent more during the night. The group lined up quickly in front of the princess waiting for her to speak.

"As of last night we have information on the missing citizens," Anna began hands held respectfully behind her back as she paced in front of her men, "we now know that it IS the Ice Witch that is attacking passing trading caravans. As for her location and any extra information we may need, I plan on getting it as soon as our guests wake up. Until then I suggest you start preparing for training, it'll be rough, I have to make sure we're ready for tonight's attack."

She dismissed them momentarily as she went to prepare for the first test, she walked over to her horse who was grazing with the other horses and grabbed a hefty bag filled with guard weapons. There were a few weapons to choose from, there were the standard plain swords that most of the guard used, a few poleaxes, and one huge and heavy battle hammer. Anna speculated that Sir Ivan had put the hammer in there specifically for Marshall, he was most likely the only one who would be able to wield it in their group. She moved the weapons, taking a few trips to do so, to the area where she wanted her group to train and placed them on the ground.

Once she was done with that task she headed back to the campsite and went about waking up the three weary travelers.

"Once you have your armor head over to the weapons I've placed in our test area and pick out the weapon you want to use."

The sleeping travelers woke startled at the loud commanding voice of the princess as she barked orders to her men. The previously unconscious man of their party groaned as he sat up tenderly feeling the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry about that," Anna started when she noticed the man inspecting his injuries, "anyway, before I send you off I wanted to ask you a few things that will hopefully to help us out on mission."

The men nodded as they got up and put together their blankets to pack up.

"We will answer as best we can your highness" the stout man stated quickly.

"Where is the Ice Witch hiding, and do you know of anything else that may have to help us fair better in battle against her?"

"I wouldn't call it hiding you're highness," The big man laughed, "she is in a giant palace made of ice at the top peak of the mountain."

"If she is so easy to find why has no one stopped her yet, I'm sure others have tried before us?"

"No one can, they all get slaughtered the moment they step into the area of the palace, the snow reacts to the Witch's will and any who step on the snow around her palace are attacked."

The group grew silent after that, the men drawing in on themselves while Anna was contemplating a course of action to accommodate this new information. There was no taking her palace through sheer force like she originally planned, she'd have to think of different alternatives before they set out that night.

"Thank you for your information, it might just save our lives," the princess said in her royal tone, "now gentlemen follow me so we can give you an extra horse and you can be on your way back down to Arendelle, the map back will be in the left compartment of the saddle."

Anna walked over to the group of horses, then grabbed the reins of Olaf's horse before handing it to one of the men.

"Just let me go grab the correct saddle and you can be on your way."

She ran back to the camp and grabbed Olaf's saddle, which she distinguished from the others based on the new leathery scent that the others didn't have from being used the night prior. Jogging back over to the travelers Anna quickly hoisted the saddle onto the horse and secured it. The men bowed to the princess deeply giving her their gratitude before walking off into the forest in the direction of Arendelle.

Anna loosened her posture after they were out of sight and sighed, she'd have to ration the rest of their supplies for the return home now after sending the men off with the food and tools Olaf's saddle-pack had in it. She then turned and headed back to the camp area to grab her sword from her tent. As she withdrew from her tent, her sword in her hand, she marveled at the beautiful craftsmanship of the jeweled hilt. She had only received the sword recently from her father as recognition of her right to the throne and as a gift for her completed training in the art of swordsmanship. The hilt was lined with gold, finely cut sapphires and emeralds littered the hilt in a simple pattern, but Anna's favorite part of the sword was the large white opal jewel that was cut into the shape of the Arendelle crocus that was the centerpiece. After admiring her sword she made her way over to the training area where her men were. She noted their different behavior as she walked up to the group, Olaf, Marshall, and Hans were standing diligently at the ready, waiting for the princess while Alexander and the twins were lounging around in the snow and talking. 'Well if I'm testing them then Alexander and the twins are getting minus points for lack of focus and seriousness.'

"I see half of you are ready for training" Anna stated as she walked up, towering over the sitting men and glaring down at them.

Breathy chuckles escaped the sitting men's lips as they mumbled apologies and got up to stand with their comrades.

"Okay I'll be assessing you in a number of categories today, each of which is very important for a prospective guard to have, you will get either a minus or plus for each thing I assess you in and if you get 5 points or more by the end of the day then I will deem you fit to join the guard, sound fair?"

They all nodded in agreement listening intently to Anna.

"And as a last note to this, since this is pre-training accomplishment of the mission is worth 2 points, so as long as you get 3 points in training you will be fine."

"To start off with Olaf, Marshall and Hans you three get a point for diligently awaiting my arrival to the area as I took care of our guests," Anna complimented to the men who smiled at her before turning to the twins and Alexander, "as for you three, you all get minus a point of playing around, putting your scores in the negatives."

"What, that's not even fair, we didn't know you were testing yet" Alexander argued.

"Minus another point for talking back to your superiors," Anna sighed rubbing at her temples, "you have to learn to control your attitude Alexander, it'll get you in trouble one of these days."

The boy fumed in place, forcibly keeping his mouth shut so he couldn't cause any more trouble and breathed in deep breaths until he calmed himself down. After he was done he gave Anna a quick nod to let her know that she could continue her talk.

"Okay our first exercise/test will be combat, guards have to know how to fight and defend themselves for obvious reasons, this isn't a fight to the death and everyone will get a point for this exercise since guard training teaches how to fight, but I want to assess your proficiency with weapons for our mission and so that I can help you."

"So for right now everyone grab a weapon and get ready, which I see most of you have already done, and Marshall your weapon will be the hammer which I think Sir Ivan placed in the bundle specifically for you."

Marshall nodded and grabbed the hammer after everyone else had grabbed their weapon of choice, he lifted it with some initial exertion but it stayed nicely in his hands once he adjusted to the weight.

"Who wants to go first?"

Alexander walked up confidently in response moving his sword around his body as he got accustomed to the feel of it. The princess nodded in recognition to his offer and walk a few paces away from the group getting ready for their mock battle. When she felt comfortable with the space between them and the group she turned around finding that her opponent was already charging her. 'Taking the initiative, I'm quite impressed' she thought as she blocked his first high blow that was aimed for her shoulder, 'and he's going for killing blows'. She blocked the next quick slash aimed for her side and pushed the blade away from her sending Alexander slightly off balance. Her eyebrow quirked as she analyzed his fighting, his blows were strong and precise, he had a good handle of the blade, but his foot work seemed sloppy. She smirked as she readied herself for his next attack, she knew he'd charge at her once he regained his footing. And sure enough after he caught himself from his stumble he charged at her blade ready to attack his opponent or defend against one, as he got closer he lunged at her, Anna blocked the blade quickly diverting the blow to the ground and quickly ducked down and knocked Alexander onto his back with a smooth sweeping kick. To signal the end of their test she sheathed her sword and extended a hand to her opponent to help him up. He took it gratefully and she heaved him up.

"Your enthusiasm to attack is very admirable and your skill with a blade is exceptional, but you need to work a great deal on your balance so that you aren't knocked off your feet so easily." She smiled at him as they walked back to the group and Alexander joined the men in their line.

"That's the second time you've gotten knocked onto your ass in a week, how do you feel about that?" Thomas jibbed.

"Why don't you find out?" Anna offered with a smirk before Alexander could retort. Thomas swallowed nervously as he stepped up, Gregory smirking along with Alexander behind him.

"You'll be after him, Gregory" Anna called back as she walked back to her previous spot away from the group.

Once she got there she turned around to find Thomas waiting on her in a clearly defensive stance. 'Waiting on me to attack this time?' she pondered as they started circling one another looking for an opening, 'Hope you're ready for it'. Anna lunged forward and swung downward at Thomas hoping to catch him off guard, he jumped back dodging the blow and recollected himself quickly to strike back at Anna. Anna blocked the blow to her side with some effort before trying to sweep Thomas' legs out from under him. To her surprise he jumped over the kick and backed a safe distance away from Anna.

"I'm not going to fall for that trick"

Anna smirked quickly at the remark before getting back in position for her next attack. 'He's a very good fighter, he blocks well and anticipates what his opponent is going to do' A plan formulated in her mind as she rolled over the words she thought, _he anticipates his opponents attack_. They started circling each other again, this time Anna beginning to close the distance between them very slowly, waiting for if he would attack or not. After a few moments of this Anna decided she would have to go to him. She charged him full speed, slightly unnerving him, before ducking down like she was going to sweep kick him. He anticipated the move and jumped up out of the way, Anna smirked when he fell for the ruse, and before Thomas could land the princess dropped her sword in the snow and lunged her shoulder into her opponent's chest, knocking the wind from him. When they both fell to the ground Anna straddled his body and grabbed his wrists, pinning them to the ground.

"Do you yield?"

Thomas nodded quickly unable to speak as he tried to force air back into his lungs. Anna quickly got off him relieving his chest of her weight and helped him up. As they walked back to the group she picked her sword up from the snow and dusted the powdered snow from its blade and hilt.

"Your ability to anticipate an attack is quite impressive, not many have it," Anna smiled at him, "but if you anticipate too much and can't react to things it might put you in danger."

He nodded respectfully still clutching at his chest and traded positions with Gregory who began walking over to the spot Anna had been starting the matches at. As she turned to head after Gregory she caught the faintest hint of a triumphant smile settled in on Thomas' face, a cold chill shot through her body when she saw it. Shaking off the unnerving feeling she strolled over to the match area bringing up her sword as a signal to start the match. Anna noted that Gregory had grabbed a poleaxe from the weapon stash, 'I wonder what his fighting style is, those weapons are usually used for distance so I should keep the fight close range to keep it to my advantage.' Raising her sword to a lunging position she dashed towards Gregory only to find him charging at her in the same moment, she scrunched her face in concentration to react to what he might do. Getting within 5 feet of each other Anna stopped in shock when Gregory threw his poleaxe as her with every ounce of his strength. She narrowly dodged it watching it in what seemed like slow motion as it flew past her side, and when she turned back Gregory quickly grabbed her arms, squeezing painfully until she dropped her sword before kicking her feet out from under her, dropping her into the snow.

"Well you certainly threw me for a loop" Anna laughed as she let Gregory help her up. He just nodded as recognition that she had spoken to him and they went back to the group, both picking up their weapons. Anna brushed the snow from her uniform when they got back to the group.

"As reward for besting me in the match you get an extra point Gregory, and next up will be Olaf"

Olaf walked up nervously, strain written across his face as he had trouble keeping his sword lifted. They walked out into the field, Anna cursing herself along the way as she anticipated the immediate outcome of the battle, she had to be fair by not going easy on him, but she hoped she wouldn't hurt him.

"Are you ready Olaf?"

He nodded with determination etching his features, he charged at her sword slightly dragging in the snow behind him. Anna waited for his attack deciding it best to defend against it. His swing was wide and sloppy and Anna saw a great many openings to attack him, she blocked the blade with her own and disarmed him with a swift motion sending his blade flying into the air and landing a few feet behind him. Realizing his easy defeat his features became crestfallen and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"You tried your hardest Olaf, that's nothing to be ashamed of" Anna told him as she lightly squeezed his shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

They returned quickly, Olaf running to retrieve his sword and hauling it back before standing in line next to Marshall who patted his back with a small smile on his face. Anna pondered quickly who she should test next, Hans and Olaf would both be exceptional, she knew Hans had swordsmanship skills due to his noble background and Marshall would be hard to take down with his size and weapon.

"If it would please you your highness, I will volunteer to challenge you next" Hans offered drawing his own sword that he brought with him from home. The sword he held was quite beautiful in its own right, it did not have the jewels that Anna's had but the gold metalworking of the hilt was impressive and curved around the handle to make an excellent guard for the wielder.

The pair walked leisurely out onto the field both collecting themselves and getting into similar fighting positions. Anna realized quickly she'd have to be the first one to attack, as he waited on her calmly. As she closed the distance between them, the memory of Hans standing above two dead bodies with that same calm expression fluttered behind her eyes. She shivered internally a slight twang of fear ringing through her, she doused the fear by reasoning that this was a testing match and nothing harmful could happen. As she reached him she attacked his shoulder with a precise stab, he blocked easily and retaliated only to have her block him in return. The exchange of blows lasted for what seemed like hours no one having the clear upper hand, and Anna figured the match would keep going on like this until someone tired out first. 'But we have a full day of training to get done and do not have the time to continue on like this.' She backed away a few feet from the battle before sheathing her sword as a signal for Hans to stop. Seeing that the match was over he fixed the princess with a questioning gaze before sheathing his sword as well.

"We can keep going like this for hours I'm assuming," she reasoned to Hans, "but we have too much to do before tonight to be taking any extra time out on a testing match, I can see you are very skilled with your weapon."

He nodded in acceptance as they walked back to the group Marshall walking out to meet Anna halfway with his hammer resting gently on his shoulder.

"Before we begin, I want to thank you for not hurting my brother" Marshall spoke in a hushed tone before readying himself.

'I need to be on the offensive end for this match, hammers may be great for attacking, but they aren't very useful for blocking' she thought before nodding in acceptance to Marshall's words.

Anna ran at Marshall feeling slightly intimidated by the fact that the closer she came towards him the larger he seemed to grow until he was completely towering over her. He sent a blow with his hammer towards Anna letting gravity give the weapon extra power, Anna rolled out of the way panting heavily, the back to back matches starting to take their toll. She'd have to make this match quick or she was sure she'd lose, 'I can't knock him off balance, but if I can disarm him and get him to yield' she nodded in agreement to her own thought before charging back at Marshall who was awaiting her next attack. Before she could get in position to disarm him he'd thrown a sideways blow to her ribcage and she had to use both hands to brace herself from the blow before getting knocked into the snow. She stood up again shakily, her hair starting to stick out from its neat bun as she rushed towards him a third time. She took note of his sturdy wide stance as he readied his hammer for another attack, as he sent another horizontal swing at her, she dove between his legs, keeping her sword held securely to her side, using the slickness of the snow to slide easily under him before turning onto her back and kicking the underside of both his knees, sending the giant man buckling to the ground. Anna rose from the snow quickly bringing her sword to his neck as she stood over him with a triumphant and bright smile.

"Looks like you got me your highness, I yield"

"Good" Anna agreed as she panted heavily and tried futilely to help her defeated opponent up.

They strolled back slowly to the group, Anna sighing as she took the fresh air into her deprived lungs and Marshall smiling slightly next to her.

"Excellent job everyone, take a quick break before we start up again on the endurance test."

The group scattered as they went to grab their canteens or rest. Anna hummed to herself as she tried to think of the tests she wanted to put her group through. 'Guards need to be obedient, logical and calm, fit, fair, and be able to work in a team, I believe that's everything.'

"Okay time for the next test," the princess bellowed at the group, "come here and line up."

The group did as told and waited for her orders standing rigidly and at attention.

"Okay boys, next up is the endurance test, you have to run 5 laps around the clearing without stopping," she gestured to the expansive wide open area around them, "you have to keep towards the edges, have fun"

She shooed them off and watched them start their run, 'This should take an hour in itself at least maybe two, and I'll use the time to think up a plan for tonight' she went over to one of the giant snow piles and constructed a sitting area at the top of it so she could have a good spot to watch her men from.

"So this ice palace is at the peak of the mountain and her snow can sense when people are on it and will attack those who are on it, this almost seems like a riddle" Anna chuckled hollowly to herself. She pondered different scenarios for a long time, none seeming very useful or safe until she heard someone clearing their voice behind her.

"Yes what is it?" she asked as she turned around to see Alexander looking up at her.

"I have finished my five laps and wanted to ask if I should go pick up Olaf, who seems to have passed out from exhaustion."

Anna peered around the clearing spotting Hans and the twins jogging in a group as they conversed and Marshall on the other side of the clearing from them jogging absentmindedly. She figured he hadn't noticed just yet that Olaf wasn't running anymore.

"Yes please do, and try and do it discreetly so Marshall doesn't notice."

Alexander nodded before jogging off to the area a few paces behind where Marshall had been at a few minutes ago. She looked up at the sun's position in the sky, Anna figured the rest of the men would be finishing up soon, it'd almost been an hour and a half since they started their run. When Anna got down from her pile she noticed Alexander carrying Olaf on his back walking up to her, and she also caught a glimpse of Marshall looking curiously in their direction before speeding up to finish his last lap.

Anna took Olaf from Alexander when they met and looked over the small man. His skin was a dark pink and his face was red from his body's exertion from running. She carefully put him in the tent so his body could cool down out of the sunlight and he'd have protection from the slight wind that had started blowing through the clearing. When she exited the tent Marshall was standing at the doorway, his face pink as well from the cold and running and his breathing ragged.

"Don't worry Marshall he'll be up in a little bit he's just a bit tired," Anna reassured, "though I will have to take a point away from him for not completing the endurance test."

Marshall nodded in understanding, and Anna watched the rest of the group jogging back to the camp still chatting. They stopped when they got to the tent that everyone was now surrounding.

"Olaf will be taking a rest and I'll be doing the rest of the tests for you, and I'll give him the tests once he awakens, the rest of these tests will be questions about scenarios that you may face as a guard, each correct answer to a question will earn you a point and any incorrect answer will lose you a point. Go grab a quill, ink well, and paper from your saddle so we can begin."

The men went to their huddle of saddles that were by the horses and grabbed their supplies before walking back to Anna and sitting down in the area around her waiting for her questions.

"First question: You are on guard duty and are walking down an alley and you see a group of fellow guards yelling at a child who appears to have stolen something from a nearby market cart, what would you do?"

"Your highness?" Marshall questioned Anna as she finished her sentence.

"Yes?"

"I can't write, your highness" he answered eyes downcast as he moved the snow around under his hands.

"Not a problem," Anna smiled at him, "walk over her with me, Marshall, I will tell the scenario to everyone, they will write it down and you can tell me your answer."

Once they walked away from the group Anna repeated the scenario and awaited Marshall's answer.

"I would question both parties, the theft could have easily been a mistake or misunderstanding and I'd want to know what actually happened. And even if the child did steal from the market cart I'm sure there would be a good justification for it that I'd want to question them about too."

Anna nodded at his answer and went back and forth with her questions and answers to the group until the sun began making it's trajectory down past the horizon and the first glimpse of the moon could be seen.

"That will be the end of the questions hand me your papers and start packing up to head out, we leave at dusk."

The men got up and handed their papers to Anna before packing up their ink and quills before heading to their tents to begin packing. Anna stopped Marshall on his way over to his and Olaf's tent.

"I do not have the time to give Olaf the questions I asked you, so I want to know if you think Olaf would answer the questions the way you did or if he'd answer them differently than you." Marshall stood and pondered what he wanted to say for a moment before answering Anna.

"I think he'd answer similarly to how I did or would be more inclined to sympathize with the people living on the streets, since he knows what that was like. But I know he'd make the right decision for everyone's benefit if given the chance."

The large man walked to his tent to wake Olaf and pack up leaving Anna to anticipate how Olaf would answer her questions as she too went to pack up her tent and get her horse ready.

She sighed as she finished packing Lianna's saddle and placing it on her, Anna still hadn't come up with a plan to take on the Ice Witch, and she had yet to get around the problem of a consciousness in the snow that could attack without the Ice Witch having to actually be there.

"What're you thinking about?" Olaf questioned as he walked up to her lifting his arms up in a way to tell her that he wanted to get up on the horse. She smiled at him as she lifted him onto the saddle, he acted like such a child at times, but it was endearing and cute.

"I just don't know how we can attack the witch when we can't even get near her, her snow on the ground will attack us if we get too close."

"Why don't we use the trees to climb over it then, I'm sure if it's a giant ice palace it'll have a window we can get into from the trees." Olaf answered her like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

The princess stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape as she gazed at Olaf. Using the trees would solve all of their problems and possibly even put the group at an advantage.

"Close your mouth before a bird tries to make a nest out of it" Alexander joked as he mounted his horse.

Anna scowled at him as she mounted behind Olaf and saw the rest of the group mounting their horses as well. Anna turned her horse so that she could speak to them face to face.

"The travelers we met last night informed me of two vital things of information; one, the witch's ice palace is at the top of North Mountain, we shouldn't be able to miss it, and two, her snow can sense and attack people so we will be leaving the horses a well enough distance away from her fortress and taking to the trees after that."

Anna snapped her reins quickly and sped off into the forest with her men following behind her. The trip up the rest of the mountain was quick, there was no wind or snow and the forest was silent around the group. Everyone within the group remained silent as well as they internally prepared for what was to come. No one had ever faced a witch before, no one knew what to expect. Anna thought of all the stories she'd heard as a child growing up of Gerda telling her how witch's ate children who stole sweets from the kitchen after their bedtime. Or the legends she'd read about in the castle library describing how grotesque and wicked they were, women who sold their souls to the devil for power.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the group came upon a frozen lake just below the top peak of the mountain. It was one of the most beautiful things the princess had ever seen, the area looked like she had just walked into one of her childhood story books. The trees were white and sagging from the weights of tear drop shaped ice that hung heavily from the edge of each branch, the waterfall that supplied the water to the lake was frozen solid as well. Mesmerized by the beauty of it Anna decided to dismount and leave the horses here, there were close enough to the peak as it was.

"Woooow," Olaf breathed as Anna helped him dismount, "this is so beautiful all it needs some extra colors, like reds or maybe yellow…nope not yellow, yellow and snow." He shivered in distaste to his own comment.

He giggled as he joined Marshall and the rest of the group exploring the beauty of the area.

"Just don't touch anything okay, we don't know what has been influenced here by her sorcery." Anna cautioned as she looked around the area.

They looked around for a while, frozen in the pure wonderment of the area, it was like nothing they had ever seen before, the snow was a perfect white powder, deep and pliable. Thomas chuckled as he bent down and scraped some of the snow from the ground to mold a snowball to throw at Gregory.

He screeched at the top of his lungs and fell backwards into the snow, everyone turned to him to see what the problem was. Their eyes come to focus on the open frozen over eyes of a man's head, his face frozen into an expression of utter fear that he had in his last moments of life. Frantically Anna went to one of the thicker patches of snow and started dusting off the top layers of snow with her gloved hand only to find more dead bodies below them. She turned to see most of her men doing the same, all finding the same thing. The wonderment of a mesmerizing spell shattered in that next moment.

"We need to get out of her" Anna breathed out, her heart rate quickening as she realized they were standing atop a mass grave of frozen bodies.

As she turned to get the horses she saw Olaf absentmindedly grabbing at one the tear drop shaped icicles until he pulled one off, the sound of it breaking off from its branch echoing through the area like a bell chime.

'What have you done Olaf?' the question rung through her mind as the snow started to take on a life of its own around them.

Anna heard a deafening scream from behind her and when she turned around she saw red, blood dying the white snow crimson where two ice spikes had erupted from the ground and pierced both twins through their heart, both losing consciousness slowly as they coughed up blood. She turned back to Olaf to see him covered in blood weeping in the snow, eyes wide open as he stared blankly into his younger brother's face, a small smile gracing his blood covered features, three long icicles penetrated Marshall's body as he towered protectively over Olaf shielding him from their blows. Alexander was unconscious a few meters away from the brothers, but he was still breathing, Anna could tell by the shallow rise and fall of his chest. And as she looked to see what was going on around her she caught the last signs of Hans as he rode his horse away from the carnage, the rest of the horses following behind him scattering into the wild.

Anna's mind went blank as she got up and drew her sword, she needed to get Olaf and Alexander out of there, and as long as they were under her charge, she would do everything in their power to keep them alive. She charged towards Olaf first, trying to dodge the spikes that burst from the ground at her to the best of her ability, a few got scratched through her side, grazing the skin and burning the area with how cold the ice was. But she hardly noticed the adrenaline pumping through her keeping her warm as she kept going forward. The spikes were beginning to rip her clothes ruining the white royal military uniform she gained so much pride from wearing.

"Come on Olaf, we have to go" she pleaded with him panting heavily, as she finally made it to his weeping form and began dragging him out of the lake area. He didn't respond to her, his body in shock at the loss of his brother, a deafening ring playing in the back of his mind, eyes hollow and empty like the life had been sucked right out of him.

"This i-is my f-fault" he repeated it like a mantra as Anna dragged him away. When they were a safe distance away from the area she let Olaf go and kneeled in front of him.

"Olaf, you need to snap out of this I need you to focus so we can get out of here safely, I need to go get Alexander but until I come back you need to get a hold of yourself." Tears were streaming down Anna's cheeks as she cupped Olaf's face trying to get him to focus on her. She couldn't find any recognition of what was going on around them from Olaf, he was trapped in the moment of Marshall's death repeating the scene in his mind over and over again.

"I'm lost without him, Anna, he was the only thing I had left in this god forsaken messed up hell of a world and now he's gone, like Ma and Pa, like everything I ever loved, what's point in living with all this pain, so much of it, all the time." He deadpanned to her, as he started to cradle himself shutting his eyes tightly trying to shut out the world.

Anna rubbed his back gently and lifted his chin so that he would look at her.

"We have to keep living Olaf because if we don't live and survive we'll never see the happier days that will come in the future, so don't give up just yet, if we survive today I'll give you a life worth living, the life the you and Marshall deserved, I promise."

She tousled his hair lovingly before running back into the lake area getting ready to retrieve Alexander who was on the far side of the area. As she made her way to the edge of the area the snow seemed to ripple ahead of her waiting for what she might do and as she looked up to see where Alexander was laying she caught sight of what she assumed was the Ice Witch. Her skin glowed from the last rays of sunshine being reflected off the snow, porcelain white and flawless. Her hair hung loosely around in wild white strands that blended in with her ice gown flowing around her, seemingly made of the sheets of snow that she stood upon. And the gaze in her eyes sent a bolt of electricity down her spine, her ice blue eyes narrowed slightly as she seemed to freeze Anna's heart with his predatory glare. Anna dropped to her knees clutching roughly at her chest as she struggled to breathe. 'How can one look bring me to this state? Am I really so useless?' She looked up when she saw the witch's feet in front of her, the woman was peering down at her with a hint of what Anna thought was curiosity.

"You're quite scrawny for a human male, are you not?" The Ice Witch questioned, drawing her pink lower lip into her mouth as she bit it lightly.

"I am no man." Anna answered defiantly forcing her gaze away from the woman's eyes.

"Good, you might get to live for a little longer then" She smiled as she swirled her wrist in the air creating three giant ice golems behind her.

"What are you going to do to us?" Anna questioned trying to force herself up from the ground, surprised that she couldn't get up until she saw the snow below her had hardened into thick ice and was holding her wrists to the ground.

"All in good time," the witch smiled seductively as she firmly grabbed Anna's chin, her ice cold fingertips burning Anna's skin, "All. In. Good. Time." She pressed her lips firmly against Anna's as she forcibly kissed her, before blowing a bit of her magic into Anna's mouth.

The princess blacked out before the witch could even withdraw her lips from Anna's.


	4. Desperate Deal

The only sensation Anna could feel was cold, a cold that she had never encountered before, it was what she imagined being buried under a few feet of packed snow would feel like. A dull thrumming pain reverberated through her bones, her skin numb to the outside world as she gasped for air that only seemed to freeze in her throat. Anna moved her eyes frantically behind closed eyelids as she struggled to comprehend what was going on around her.

A sharp shooting pain, like liquid fire, ran through her body when she tried to open her eyes, a bright white light flashing behind her eyes. Her body recoiled from the sudden pain before quickly returning to the slowly lessening pain that flowed through her body. Something in Anna's mind told her that everything was going to be okay, that the emptiness of what felt like oblivion wouldn't be the end for her, she'd see the light again once everything was over. She calmed slightly at the given knowledge though it didn't help her feel any less vulnerable as she tried to mentally grasp for any sort of plausible answer as to what was going on, her senses had abandoned her. Nothing could be felt around her, she heard no one, nothing to assuage her fears that her nonexistent surroundings were safe, and she couldn't recall any thought or sense that she had ever been anything before this, leaving her confused and lost.

The only memory she could recall was the feeling of freezing cold lips on hers and a sensation of a pleasant coolness that tickled down her throat.

But soon the pain was lifting, the cold absorbing into her bones until it felt like it had become one with her. And she felt her senses slowly return to her as she began to awaken and rise from the nothingness that had been previously holding onto her.

Anna opened her eyes slowly letting the soft blue light around her filter through her pupils, her blurry vision beginning to focus on the details of her surroundings. The first thing she saw in detail was the high looming ceiling above her that was a deep blue that refracted the outside light. The princess groaned aloud bringing her arms to shield her eyes from the offending light, only to have them stopped in their trajectory by shackles made of ice. Eyes bursting open in alarm she forced her body up from where she lay to assess her situation. She hissed in a breath as her wounded body opposed her movement, and clutched at her side that had begun bleeding through the bandages that wrapped around her torso.

"Awww, come on, I _just_ finished bandaging you up" a low voice next to her sighed in exasperation.

Anna's body shot away from the voice as far as her constraints would allow, intense fear etched into her features as she cowered away like a wounded animal.

"Hey it's alright," the man soothed holding his arms up to show that he wasn't going to harm her, "you're safe now, well not exactly safe, but alive at least." He muttered the last parts under his breath and Anna barely caught the man's words.

Anna eyed the man with deep suspicion, he looked at her with soft brown eyes and a small smile, his blonde locks falling messily from his head, and his large chest heaving as he breathed steadily. His smile broadened when he saw Anna relax her tensed muscles.

"Where am I?" the princess asked meekly eyes scanning the room around her. Its architecture was similar to that of Arendelle Castle but it was missing the variety in color that the halls of Arendelle had, everything in the room was a deep blue, the color of the ice that the room was made of.

"You are in Elsa's ice palace, one of her more beautiful pieces of work if I do say so myself."

The man ran a covered hand absentmindedly over the wall as he appreciated the room around them. Staring wearily at the man in front of her she began to question his sanity, he was in the Ice Witch's palace, the place where no one ever left from alive, and he was admiring the walls.

"Who are you?" Anna found herself asking.

"Hmmm?" the man hummed turning back to Anna, "Oh, the name's Kristoff."

"Okay Kristopher, why are you here, wait scratch that why am _I_ here?"

"It's Kris-toff, no –er at the end," he corrected, clearly irritated, "as for why you are here I'm sure Elsa will tell you herself…oh and I'm happy to say the white hair streak looks really good on you."

"Whi-ite. Hair."

Anna stared at the burly man in utter astonishment as she maneuvered her shackled hands until they undid her messy bun. As the hair fell around her shoulders she grabbed a handful and lifted it to her face to inspect. Sure enough a thick bundle of her once coppery locks was now devoid of its previous color. Her mouth gaped open as she became at a loss for words, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she studied her hair further.

"It's a mark," Kristoff answered before she could ask, "proof that Elsa's magic has successfully fused with you, you should be quite proud that you survived the process, most die."

"Well that's reassuring." Anna rolled her eyes at him, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It truly is" a sickeningly sweet voice said from the doorway.

Anna's eyes narrowed as she turned to the Ice Witch, her blood boiled at the sight of the woman. She lunged at the witch not caring whether she opened her wounds, the only thing on the princess' mind was the need to make the woman pay for what she'd done, but the shackles around Anna's wrists stopped her from her advance. A guttural growl erupted from her throat at the frustration she felt for the situation and the seething hatred she felt for the woman who had taken the lives of her men.

The Ice Witch stood in the doorway unfettered by Anna's violent outburst and the princess grew angrier seeing that the woman seemed to be amused with how she reacted to her presence.

"I suspect you're not happy to see me"

"Why would I be?" Anna snarled.

"Hmmm, I assumed a royal such as yourself had been raised to thank the people who save their lives," Elsa replied, "guess I was wrong."

"_Saved_ my life," Anna scoffed bewildered at the witch's words, "how exactly did you do that, I only recall your ice trying to slice me to bits?"

"You trespassed into my territory, my ice was only doing what it was created to do, if I had not been there to stop it you wouldn't be here right now."

"Rather be dead along with my men than in your poisonous presence," Anna seethed, "speaking of which, why am I here?"

Anna wearily eyed the witch and Kristoff as they shared a suspicious look before Kristoff rose from his seat next to Anna's bed and headed for the exit.

"It was nice meeting you," Kristoff said over his shoulder as he reached the door, "I hope everything goes smoothly for you two, and I'll see you in a few days if you're still here when I get back." He finished with a small sad smile, then exited the room, his large boots echoing off the ice floors as he left Anna alone with the Ice Witch.

The princess stared through the doorway in shock and shook to the core as the meaning within his words replayed in her mind. 'I might die before he gets back'.

She quickly turned back to the other woman in the room as she began frantically pulling at her chained hands in hope of breaking the ice shackles.

"They won't break, my ice is as strong as iron."

Anna leered at her for a few seconds, then resumed her attempts to break her shackles. After a few fruitless attempts a sigh escaped Anna when she gave up trying to break her confines and she visibly deflated.

"If you are done with that I can tell you why I've brought you here." The witch stated coolly as she stared unamused at the princess.

The princess nodded curtly before sitting back on the bed with as much dignity as she could muster, her facial features contorting slightly at the jolts of pain that sprang up during some of her movements. Once Anna was situated the witch began slowly making her way to the princess as she talked.

"Do you know anything about elemental beings?"

"Only the general things from folklore books, about them being creatures who can wield nature's power and protect the lands they reside in."

"That's a good basis of knowledge to start on, but do your books and stories tell you how elementals come into being?"

Anna shook her head quickly as she eyed the witch's movements that were coming closer to her, her hips swaying smoothly like a metronome putting Anna into a trance.

"Elementals are born from mortals, they mature as humans until their powers awaken, then they become full elemental beings and stop aging and they progress on their life cycle, I'm going to assume you don't know the life cycle of an elemental?" she questioned quirking an eyebrow at her captive.

"You have assumed correctly" Anna replied putting on her royal mask to hide the growing fear of where she assumed the conversation was going.

"The elemental life cycle consists of birth, aging to maturity, settling into a territory once you've found it and protecting it, reproducing, and finally living out the rest of your days until another elemental comes along to take over your territory."

"Can you guess which stage of the elemental cycle I happen to be on?" Anna hissed when she felt the witch's cold fingers on her skin. The witch held her gaze as she trailed a finger slowly down Anna's open shirt, leaving a thin line a frost in its wake.

She grazed the skin gently in fascination feeling the contours of the princess' trained body until her hand stopped over her captive's wounded side. Anna gasped and sucked in cold air, hissing profanities when she felt the witch playfully poke at her open wound.

"Fuck" Anna growled as she tried to swat the witch's hand away from her side only to miss as the elemental backed away a small smile gracing her features.

"I am on the reproduction stage of my life, having protected this territory for the last 300 years, I'm ready to have a child and pass the role onto them. That is why you are here now."

"What makes you think…I'll let you do that to me," the princess panted struggling with the new pain radiating in her side, "you have another thing coming if you think I'll just let you use my body to bring more monsters like you into the world." She ended with a defiant smirk trying to look as tough and strong as possible in front of her captor even though she was using every last ounce of her energy to stay conscious.

"I figured you'd have some resistance, though I could just force you if I wanted…but I have something to bargain with," the woman twirled her wrist in the air causing a small burst of light blue magic to come from her palms before she turned her attention back to Anna, "if you allow me to see if you are physically compatible with me and can help me produce an heir, then I will let these two live and they can return to Arendelle. Sounds fair enough doesn't it."

As she finished two large ice golems pushed a shackled Olaf and Alexander through the door of the room, the ice doorway expanding greatly to allow their massive bodies to enter.

Alexander swung his shackled fists defiantly at the golem knocking some snow from his stomach, coating half of Olaf's face with white powder, but the golem was unfazed and grunted before shoving Alexander hard to the ground.

"You're lucky my hands are bound, you overgrown snow pile." Alexander spat up at the golem towering over him.

A small smile tugged at Anna's mouth as she watched Alexander acting defiantly towards his captors, glad that he still had his fighting spirit.

Her smile was quickly wiped away as she turned to see Olaf, 'He's given up' Anna sighed internally as she looked into the small man's dull, lifeless eyes. His features were sunken as he stared blankly at the ground in front of him. Anna returned her attention back to the icy woman beside her as she signaled for her golems to hold the two men in place.

"Make your choice," the witch demanded, "refuse me and I kill your men here and now, accept my offer and they can make their way safely back to Arendelle."

Anna took a long look at her comrades mulling over her decision, she knew there was only one choice that she'd ever willingly make, and she wouldn't be the death of her men for any reason. Steeling herself, she faced her captor, fists clenched in her lap.

"Don't do it," Alexander screamed, alarming Anna, "I don't know what this deal it, but if it helps this monster, don't do it." He thrashed violently against the ice golem trying to break free of his hold.

"Calm down Alexander," Anna commanded sternly, "it's not your choice, you're still under my command."

Alexander tensed clenching his shaking fists at his sides, anger burning in his features. He sneered when he saw the Ice Witch's small smile out of the corner of his eye.

"I will accept your proposal on one condition, witch" the witch narrowed her eyes as she looked expectantly at the princess, her eyebrows quirked with curiosity, "you must stop attacking traders that go through the North Mountain pass."

"You are not in the position to be making demands"

"True, but you have more to lose than I do from this, Kristoff told me how difficult it is to find women who can survive your magic, is this false information?" Anna quipped a triumphant smirk on her face as she gauged the icy woman's reaction.

"Impressive," she replied tapping her finger to her chin as she mulled over Anna's words in her mind, "I'll accept your terms with a condition of my own."

"And what would that be?"

"You have to refer to me as 'your majesty' and treat me as such, until such a time that I allow you to call me by my first name. I am no witch and I do not enjoy being addressed as such." a sly smile spread on her lips as she watched Anna glare daggers at her.

"As you wish, _your majesty_" Anna sneered bowing her head slightly from where she sat on the bed.

"Are you kidding me, don't let her win so easily Anna, you can't trust anything she says, she'll kill you just like Marshall, Thomas, and Gregory" Alexander pleaded angrily trying desperately to break the shackles. Olaf flinched at the mention of his brother's name shrinking in on himself as he glanced over to see Alexander's struggling.

"Enough!" Anna exclaimed silencing Alexander's shouting instantly, "you will leave this castle, head down the mountain back to Arendelle, making sure Olaf stays safe, and you will train to be excellent guards, do I make myself clear? Today won't be the last time you see me, I won't be away for too long, and when I get back, I expect you to be the finest guards I've ever laid eyes on…after all you're both my men, make me proud." She finished with a small bright smile. Both men nodded an affirmative at her words, though their eyes were glossing over with forced back tears.

"Take them away," the elemental ordered to her golems, "give them some supplies from the stash of trading caravan supplies for their journey, and make sure they don't come back."

The golems grunted an affirmative as they led Olaf and Alexander from the room, the door expanding once again to accommodate for the ice golem's size before shrinking back to its original size once they had left.

"So does this place have a loo?" the princess deadpanned.

"I'll make one if you so require it," Elsa answered, "until then I will take you to where you'll be staying while you're here. Follow me."

The shackles melted away from the princess' wrists as her captor exited the room. Anna looked up bewildered from her spot on the bed before scrambling to her feet as fast as she could without causing more pain for herself.

Fatigue weighed heavily on the princess as she huffed along behind Elsa through the ice palace, each set of stairs the two climbed only worsened Anna's state. Once they reached what Anna assumed was the third floor, considering they walked up two flights of stairs, Elsa guided Anna down the long hallway towards the princess' room. As Anna trailed weakly behind Elsa she glanced around taking in her surroundings.

This floor was nothing like the others they had passed and Anna internally marveled at it. The walls were a pure white coated in white sheets of snow to give it a solid look, ice weaved in on itself to make a grand fabric carpet that was sprawled down the entirety of the hallway, and the walls were lined with a few paintings giving color to the area. Anna squeezed one of the tapestries hanging from the wall trying to test the fabric like ice only to have the fabric melt in the spot she touched. In an instant the material weaved out to repair itself and Anna backed away from her marveling only to see Elsa giving her a dangerous and cold look from over her shoulder. Shaking herself back into a regal posture Anna continued following the icy woman in front of her through the hall.

"This will be your room," Elsa stated, "My room is back down the hall so if you have any ideas of escaping I suggest you cease that thinking now before acting on it."

"Also, the ice in this palace is what you'd call special, I've asked it to keep tabs on you, and so wherever you step, no matter where you are, I will know about it. The ice will also keep you inside the palace unless under supervision. Now that you know that I'll leave and start getting dinner prepared, which you will attend. Until then I suggest you find a way to fix up your wounds, it'd be terribly rude of you to pass out during tonight's activities." Elsa licked her lips teasingly before turning on her heel and heading back down the hall. A small chuckle escaped her lips when she saw the redhead visibly cringe from her action.

After Anna ceased to hear the icy heels of her captor clicking against the floor she turned her attention to the solid ice door in front of her. She eyed it wearily, the door dully glowing blue as she neared it. As she reached out towards the door handle her hand grabbed at air, she looked quickly down at the area to notice that the door had no handle. The redhead expelled a hot breath into her bangs in frustration, she reached a hand up to where the door handle would normally be and she eyed the area questioningly.

Anna shot back in alarm when the door began to melt before her eyes after her hand had grazed over the cold icy surface. Once she collected herself, looking down the hall making sure 'her majesty' didn't come storming down the hallway due to her breaking the elemental's door she cautiously stepped through the threshold to her room.

The room was heavily colored in blue, the ice that made up the space the only palette of color used in the design. There was a grand bed on the far wall, the canopy and headboard made of thick blue ice, but the blankets consisted of heavy furs from the various animals in the region along with a few exotic furs she'd only seen a few times in her life. Anna dredged slowly over to the bed before gently feeling at the furs, a content sigh escaped her lips at their warmth. Feeling the last of her strength leave her, Anna fell gracelessly onto the bed and closed her eyes a few tears prickling her trying to break free.

"This ended horrendously," The princess let out a hollow laugh as she draped her uninjured arm over her eyes, "and it'll only get worse tonight"

"At least my men got out safely…most of them anyway."

Her throat closed as the memory of the previous day caught up with her, she rolled onto her side shrinking in on herself, ignoring the pain that craved for her attention. Tears began to break through the barrier of her eyelids as she silently sobbed into the fur blankets until sleep overtook her.

Anna startled awake when she felt a freezing cold touch graze over her bare skin. With her eyes wide she looked frantically around the room working herself into a panic when her mind couldn't make out where she was in her sleep heavy state.

"Calm down." Elsa ordered in a soothing tone as she grasped hard at Anna's shoulders trying to get the younger woman to stop flailing.

"What are you doing in here?" Anna accused pulling the furs tightly to herself.

"You seemed…cold so I was putting this on you since you fell asleep on top of the covers" Elsa replied curtly holding up a familiar thick cloak.

"Where'd you get that?" Anna growled as she grabbed her mother's cloak from the elemental's hands.

"From the chair in the corner, your belongings were brought here when I had you sent to Kristoff's room to get your wounds treated, at least what's left of them; your clothes were shredded. So I sent Kristoff to town to get you warmer clothes for the upcoming winter."

"T-thank you" the princess stuttered out utterly surprised at her captor's initiative. She whisked the cloak around her shoulders and relaxed into it, eternally grateful that Elsa had kept her mother's cloak for her.

"Don't thank me, I just can't have you dying before I get what I need from you, that'd be a bad investment. Now let's go, dinner has been prepared and since you're up we might as well get this done with quickly, I'd like to retire early tonight."

The elemental left the room quickly, door dissolving to allow her to pass. Clutching the thick cloak tightly to herself Anna followed behind as they made their way to wherever the icy woman in front of her was taking them. They walked in complete silence, the only noises around them were the clicking of their shoes and Anna's slightly labored breathing as they descended to the second level.

"I don't remember this being here?" Anna asked raising an eyebrow as Elsa guided her through a set of ornate double doors.

"It was not here before."

Anna glanced around the newly constructed room, dumbstruck by the amount of detail that was able to be put into the room in such a short amount of time. The room looked like an ice replica of the dining hall back in Arendelle, large smooth pillars lined on the perimeter of the room, a long table being the room's central feature, and a large ice chandelier hovering over it.

The princess licked her lips as her gaze dropped to the copious amounts of food filling up the half of the table that the two would be sitting at. She eyed the elemental curiously contemplating where it would be appropriate to sit, waiting for the white haired woman to sit before she decided.

Elsa took her seat at one of the middle chairs down the length of the table, close to where the majority of the food was and motioned for Anna to sit across from her. Anna complied quickly, flinching momentarily from the slight burning sensation of the ice chair that she had to pull out for herself. After settling into her seat Anna began grabbing for food, her stomach grumbling loudly in anticipation.

"What is this?" the redhead inquired her jaw clenching as she glared the other woman down.

"Its food of course."

"Its frozen solid, how am I supposed to eat this?"

The elemental sat back in her chair humming as she pondered her answer. Anna huffed at the sight, irritation showing clearly on her face as she waited expectantly for 'her majesty's' answer.

"I suppose you can't" Elsa replied after a few minutes.

"Of course I can't, how could that even come into question. Humans can't eat frozen solid food." Anna groaned rubbing her temples as she exhaled a heavy breath, 'This woman is infuriating.'

"Well I apologize for my lack of knowledge, I can accompany you tomorrow to go find wood so you can make a fire to cook your food."

Anna nodded in acceptance to the proposal before she pushed her plate away from her, still slightly angry for being denied food when she was becoming increasingly hungry.

"Shouldn't you know this anyway? Everyone has to eat no matter who or what you are…and even you said elementals were humans once."

"I was human well over two hundred years ago, you forget a lot of things in that amount of time. I don't need as much food now, the area that I protect sustains me, but I still eat some of the berries that grow around here for the taste."

"So I assume dinner is over then?" Anna questioned nervously wringing her hands together under the table after a long drawn out silence between the two.

"It appears so, time for this little deal of ours to take place."

The princess choked on her saliva when Elsa sent a seductive smile and wink her way. She tensed when they got up and started to leave the room. With each step they took towards their destination Anna began to dread what was about to happen more and more.

Thoughts plagued the redhead's mind as she focused on the clicking of her boots as the noise echoed through the halls. 'Dear gods I'm going to die tonight, possibly…maybe…this isn't fair…I'm losing my first time to a monster who took everything from me…and a woman to make it worse, if I make it back home I'll probably be executed or worse…thrown to the streets as a common harlot and be an outcast…I shouldn't have agreed to this, I don't deserve this…I hope Olaf and Alexander are doing okay.' Anna visibly calmed when she thought of the two men, able to return to Arendelle and be safe, determination sinking into her features, 'I did this for them, they're safe and it was my duty to make it so.'

"I want you to know 'your majesty'," Anna started waiting for Elsa to turn around and give her full attention before she continued, "I don't plan on making this easy for you, the deal still stands of course, but I'm the one heir of Arendelle so if you think I'm going to roll over and take it like a common whore you got another thing coming." A confident smirk crossed her face as she instilled some hope in herself eyeing the calm woman in front of her anticipating her reaction.

"I would hope so princess"

Anna's eyes widened in disbelief as her jaw slackened, that was definitely not the reaction she was anticipating. Her eyes widening even more when they stopped in front of the door to her room.

"Why are we at my quarters?"

"Well if we did this in my room you'd most likely die from the cold, your room has blankets and coverings and is a great deal warmer than mine."

The princess grimaced deeply at the thought, even after this was done she'd probably lay awake remembering it if she had to sleep in the same spot afterward, there was no running from this.

"So are you prepared for this?" Elsa asked as they entered the room the ice door sealing itself back up after they'd walked through it.

Anna sighed deflating slightly as she removed her mother's cloak from her shoulders, folding it as she walked towards the chair in the corner of the room and placed it there next to her sword. She shivered as the cold the room finally registered to her.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Anna deadpanned as she turned back to Elsa, quickly covering her eyes and squeaking when she saw that the woman had discarded her snow powdered robes.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled, though an obvious blush had begun taking residence on her cheeks. Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to get rid of the image of her captor's pale flawless skin being invitingly right in front of her.

Elsa had by far the most gorgeous body she'd ever seen, possibly the only naked body she'd ever seen besides her own, but it was perfect by all possible standard; beautiful curves, smooth inviting skin, and succulent pale breasts topped by perfect pink nipples.

'Fuck,' she hissed at her own thoughts, 'she's making it really hard to hate her right now with that amazing body…wait, what…no, no, no she's a woman, why am I blushing…fuck I hate this.'

"I believe I'm initiating this physical encounter, am I doing it wrong?" Elsa asked confused biting her lower lip.

"Nope, nope, don't mind me" the redhead replied hand still covering her eyes, though she took a peek through her fingers every so often.

"Then come here."

Anna shuffled forward slowly hand still over her eyes as she closed the distance between them.

"You act like you've never seen a naked female body before. Is there something unpleasing to you about my appearance?"

"Just do whatever you are going to do to me," she huffed in reply a frown forming on her face, "I don't want to talk to you about my life." A slight bit of anger and embarrassment forming in her at the sly condescending smile the cold woman sent her way.

"As you wish princess."

Elsa pulled Anna into a deep kiss, Anna winced slightly when the woman unknowingly squeezed a cut of her arm, but otherwise let her body react and move in time with Elsa's kisses.

When Anna pulled away for much needed air, biting aggressively on Elsa's lip as they parted, the taller woman maneuvered her onto the bed, the furs a warm welcome to the room's cool temperature.

Anna began to relax herself into the bed as Elsa crawled on top of her and began kissing the redhead's neck, softly nibbling and sucking on the sensitive skin licking her pulse point.

"Gods" Anna let out a breathless gasp when Elsa kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear and blew cold air onto the moist skin sending pleasure coursing through her veins.

Her thoughts and feelings were becoming muddled as a pleasant haze settled in clouding her reason. Sensation was taking over as Anna focused on the feeling of the elemental's kisses along her skin, the warmth in her body that was blocking out the cold, and the caress of Elsa's cold fingers as they trailed down her blood covered white shirt towards her southern region, exploring her curves through the garment.

She startled back to reality when an extremely painful and freezing bite was placed on her collar bone and she realized her captor had begun undoing her pants.

"No!" she screamed pushing Elsa off of her with all the strength she could muster. Anna sat up and poked at the spot Elsa had bitten testing the amount of pain she felt there. She winced at the sharp pain, then turned to Elsa shrinking back in on the bed to create distance between them.

"Why'd you push me off, you seemed to be enjoying yourself?" Genuine curiosity evident in the elemental's tone.

Anna couldn't respond to her question, she had no idea why she reacted that way, she knew what sex consisted of and that that's what she was doing now, but her body reacted on its own to the sudden intrusion. She tried to shake the nerves from herself as she visibly relaxed eyeing Elsa who hadn't moved an inch from where Anna had pushed her to.

Elsa's expression was blank which slightly unnerved her, but she made a deal and she didn't plan on breaking it.

"Uh…can you at least take it a bit slower…this is a first for me." she finished the last part under her breath hoping Elsa didn't hear it.

"I suppose so, if I must, but I'm not allowing you to pull away like that again."

The white haired woman twirled her wrists and commanded her magic, creating a pair of shackles that bound Anna's wrist to the headboard.

The princess paled when she felt the ice cold confinements around her wrists, instinctively struggling against them for a few moments before calming down. Her gaze hardened as she watched Elsa crawl back towards her, the older woman's hips swaying smoothly as she did.

The redhead swallowed, throat going dry as Elsa enveloped her in a bruising kiss, her mouth being forced open by Elsa's tongue. She let the older woman explore her mouth as much as she deigned appropriate and was pleasantly surprised when she felt Elsa suck on her tongue.

The princess gasped as they parted breathing heavily as her lungs forced air back into them, her breath becoming erratic when Elsa returned back to the sensitive skin behind her ear.

Elsa nibbled on her earlobe as she retracted herself to look at her captive in the eyes.

"Is this slow enough for you?" she coyly teased watching the redhead slightly flush at the question. A smirk appeared on her face when Anna tried to subtly sneak a peek at her naked body causing Anna to blush deeply at being caught. Elsa leaned back into Anna biting softly at her neck and sucking hard at the skin to mark her.

Seeing that Anna was slowly starting to relax once again soft gasps escaping her every so often Elsa set about removing the princess' clothes.

She manipulated her ice into a claw and cut Anna's shirt from her body slightly scratching the redhead's skin in the process.

The redhead sucked in air when she felt Elsa's ice claw slightly cut into her flesh and peered up at the woman who was quickly removing the abused garment from her, cutting the sleeves to allow the cloth to be parted from her body.

A cool hand grazed Anna's warm flesh as Elsa went about feeling out the contours of the redhead's body. Elsa looked over the princess' exposed skin studying the small amount of freckles that dusted Anna's shoulders and collar bone, and the fine definition of the younger woman's toned abdominal muscles under soft skin. After raking over her captive's body with her eyes for a few moments, she began to explore the skin with her hands, feeling the muscle and bones that lay just beneath the surface of the redhead's skin. She gently rubbed her thumb over Anna's oblique and squeezed curiously at the underside of the bound breasts. A small gasp from the woman under Elsa betrayed how sensitive the soft mounds were.

Creating another ice claw Elsa cut through the binding material watching as the full size of Anna's breasts were released from the constrictive material. Elsa sucked lightly at the newly exposed breasts beneath her testing their sensitivity, her internal question answered when she heard a moan escape from Anna's lips.

A mischievous smile spread across Elsa's face at the reaction and she brought her full attention to the soft mounds of flesh below her, lightly biting the peak of the redhead's right breast while pinching the left between her fingers. Her actions were rewarded by Anna's squirms and hardened nipples at the princess' increasing arousal.

Elsa returned her mouth back to Anna's as she sent her free hand to begin unbuckling the redhead's pants, purposefully poking the woman's side wound on the trip down. She felt Anna tense, recoiling below her before the princess bit her lip hard in retaliation.

"Fuck, what was that for?" Anna asked glaring daggers at the woman above her.

"No reason, I just enjoy the look you make when you're in pain." Elsa smiled returning to kissing Anna's neck effectively silencing the younger woman as she removed the clothes covering her lower body.

"You better hurry this up so I can put my clothes back on, it's too cold for this." The redhead chattered beneath Elsa.

"You ruin the mood when you say things like that." Elsa growled lowly into Anna's ear as she bit at her jaw.

"G-good"

Elsa disregarded the comment as she curled her lithe fingers into the moist red curls of Anna's sex earning a surprised gasp. She dipped a finger into the slick folds curious to how wet the reluctant redhead had become and pulled away with a well lubricated digit. Elsa smirked, feeling confident in her ability to bring her captive to such a state of arousal, as she rubbed her fingers together to lubricate them all.

"Almost done now," the white hair woman stated, "If you still have your hymen I'm going to have to break it so the magic can make its way in."

'I really hope she survives this, I don't want to have to keep searching for more women.' A grimace crossed Elsa's face as she returned her attention to the younger woman below her. The redhead's eyes were wide with fear as she peered into her captor's eyes pleadingly.

"I'll try to make it is as painless as possible." She cooed, placing soft kisses on Anna's freckled cheeks in reassurance before kissing her deeply in an attempt to distract her.

The elemental's lubricated fingers returned to Anna's entrance before she began to slowly ease a finger in. Anna's body slightly jerked at the pain caused by the foreign object's intrusion, a slight hiss sounding from her when the movement sent the pain in her side flaring.

A small whimper escaped from the princess as Elsa's finger eased into her, the pleasure taking over from the initial pain. Her breath caught when Elsa began to pump gently in and out of her with her finger, kissing her neck and fondling her all at the same time.

She bucked her hips instinctively, her body _needing_ to feel more from the contact. Anna's mind blanked not able to focus on anything but the clenching feeling in her lower stomach. None of the books she'd ever read in the castle library came close to describing this feeling, most glazing over the feeling of it for the more medical and technical workings of what was happening. She might hate Elsa with all her heart for everything that had gone wrong the past few days but right now, with her own hands chained to the bed, the cold woman was the only one who could give her the release her body craved for.

"More…" she panted thickly, eyes shut tightly as she tried to clench her inner walls around Elsa's one finger in hopes of gaining more friction.

The elemental complied immediately sinking in another finger and pumping into the princess at a faster pace, in and out as deep as her fingers would allow.

Anna began rhythmically moving her hips in time to meet with Elsa's thrusts, mumbling incoherently as she tried to catch her breath and ignore the pain of her wounds.

Elsa moved methodically as she worked Anna towards her release, her mind running like clockwork as she smoothly and quickly pumped her fingers into Anna taking notice when her finger barely grazed the younger woman's hymen.

She retracted her fingers quickly, much the disappointment of the princess, and used her magic to give her fingers the extra length they required to break through the redhead's symbol of purity.

Anna shivered slightly as the cool ice entered, the opposing temperature not completely unwelcomed against the heat that seemed to be radiating through her body. She moaned loudly as Elsa began pumping her fingers into her at a steady pace, the ice filling her more completely, the feeling in her abdomen building up even more with each thrust.

Her body wouldn't last much longer, Elsa seemed to notice this too as she took an extra hard stroke to pierce the princess' last defense.

A shriek came from Anna's mouth as the pain shot through her like lightning, her body recoiling slightly from it. Her brows furrowed as she tried to brace herself against the unwelcome sensation.

"It'll feel good again in a moment."

Elsa began to move her fingers again, starting out slowly before working herself back into her faster pace when she felt Anna was ready for it.

The redhead responded with soft moans and mewls as the pleasure heightened again and her body was once again craving release. Her hips were beginning to move erratically against Elsa's ministrations.

"Dear Gods" Anna moaned breathily, a tint on irritation in her voice as she struggled for the need to grab onto something to brace herself, though her confinements kept her from doing so.

Anna felt like moldable dough in Elsa's hands, each thrust of her fingers driving her insane as she teetered close to the edge. As Elsa retracted her icy fingers she grazed on a sensitive spot inside her walls and Anna come undone at the pleasure that shook through her whole body.

Elsa watched as the princess below her experienced the ecstasy of physical sexual relations, a small content smile forming on her face as she relished in the knowledge of knowing she'd coaxed the younger woman there herself.

Anna panted trying to regain her breathing as her orgasm subsided, her heartbeat still hammering in her chest. Her curiosity and fear increasing when she realized she was still shackled to the bed post. 'Aren't we done?'

The elemental seemed to notice the questioning look and quickly dismissed the ice that covered her fingers.

"We're almost done, I just have to fill you with my magic now."

Anna nodded knowing this was the defining moment of the night, she'd either walk out of the ice palace with a baby or die tonight, another dead woman to add to the missing posters floating around Arendelle. Her body slightly tensed and she fought to choke back the bile that tried to escape from her throat.

"Try to relax and not move." Elsa instructed and gave the redhead a small encouraging smile. She manipulated her magic to construct shackles around the princess' ankles that anchored her to the bed.

The elemental locked eyes with the princess holding her gaze as she positioned herself in between Anna's legs using her hands to give her more room to work. She lowered her head to Anna's entrance not breaking eye contact and gave a quick lick to the princess' sensitive bundle of nerves analyzing the redhead's reaction.

Anna forced her body to not move in response to the stimulation sensing that Elsa was testing her before actually getting started. Gritting her teeth she nodded for the elemental to proceed hoping to communicate with her eyes that she was ready for whatever what about to happen.

She almost screamed and jerked when she felt freezing cold lips kiss her entrance blowing a tiny bit inward.

Anna could barely register anything that came after, the amount of pain she was experiencing cutting off all thought, her brain feeling like it was about to explode as she willed herself to not move. The princess felt what she assumed was ice creep up through her inner walls everything it touched leaving the feel of fire in its wake. She was burning and freezing from the inside all at the same time, and she had to lay through the searing unimaginable pain without moving a muscle.

Elsa remained calm in front of her sitting on the bed now watching her magic do its work. Her face devoid of emotion as she held her gaze on Anna commanding with her eyes to not move, challenging the girl in front of her to rebel against her wish.

Power swirled in her glare as stared down the princess. And to Anna it seemed to be the calm in the middle of the storm of pain she was in. Furrowing her eyebrows she kept Elsa's gaze, not moving a muscle, as she stepped up to the elemental's challenge.

'I'll show her, I won't die tonight, or tomorrow, or even the next day, she won't be rid of me so soon.' Her resolve becoming law in her mind as she let the pain course through her in all its fury.

And when the pain subsided and Elsa gave a relieved sigh, Anna smiled triumphantly before letting herself fall into the comfort of unconsciousness.


	5. Making of a Devil's Den

Author's Note: Sorry for a really late update, but I did warn you that I suck at deadlines, I'll try and get better about it. So yeah this chapters short because it's kinda just a view of what is happening back in Arendelle. I don't know if I'll continue these side chapters in the future though, if you like them though let me know it may sway my opinion. So Elsa and Anna will be back in the next chapter, but this was kind of important to write so bare with me. Hope you like the chapter and let me know how you like it, have awesome days until next time.

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Wind whipped angrily around Hans as he urged his horse to go faster, the other royal horses following close behind. He pulled up the hood on his cloak to shield himself from the violent flurries of snow that had picked up since he left the frozen carnage of the pond. Hans panted loudly as he tried to focus on getting back to Arendelle, weaving in and out of trees, his heart pounding heavily against his ribcage and his hands trembling slightly as he tightly gripped the reins. The scene of the pond and the following carnage flashed fresh behind his eyes, the memory burned into his mind, though he tried to shake the image.

Hans snapped the reins when he saw the edges of Arendelle coming into view, the weather calm in the areas surrounding the town and castle, despite the storm raging on North Mountain. The lack of moonlight causing the torches lighting Arendelle Castle seem like a bright beacon of warmth and safety to the weary soldier.

Once on the streets of Arendelle the sound of horses' hooves against the cobblestone ground thundered throughout the town, the lone rider not caring if he awoke anyone. As he crossed the bridge he noticed the guards startle into action, the loud noise shocking them out of their leisurely night patrols. Pulling on the reins quickly, Hans halted in front of the gates showing his arms in surrender to let the guards know he meant no harm.

"Who goes there?" a guard bellowed from the top of the wall. The other guards had their weapons at the ready, bows and spears aimed at the intruder.

"Hans, son of Duke Bachuss, and soldier trainee to the princess," the auburn haired man stated, working to steady his spooked mount, "I have urgent news for King Adgar. I must speak with him immediately."

The guards nodded and retracted their weapons slowly before they went to open the gates. The gears clacked together loudly as the large gates opened before Hans. He didn't wait for them to fully open before he led the horses inside the castle walls, dismounting gracefully and handing the reins over to a guard who came to approach him.

"Have these horses put back in the stables, and give them a treat," he instructed to one of the guards. The guard replied an affirmative and began his task.

"Is there anything I can get you, sir, you look weary from your travels?"

"Something warm, please," He sighed, making his way to the entrance, "oh and can someone wake the king, I must speak with him, and probably the other council members too."

"Someone awaken Kai he'll take care of the rest," the head guard commanded before turning back to Hans, "you can wait in the meeting hall until then and we'll have your drink sent there for you."

Hans smiled his appreciation before heading inside to wait.

The walk to the meeting room was soothing, the dark halls were quiet due to the early hour, and Hans began to visibly relax, strolling through the halls as if it were any other day.

Once at the room he gently opened the door before heading in and inhaling the stuffy air of the area. He exhaled dreamily before he took long strides to the king's royal chair, combing over the red velvet material with precise strokes. He inspected the seat thoroughly, admiring the intricate design of the wood, the coloring and the visible indent of all the monarchs who had sat upon the chair over the years of Arendelle's short history. The auburn sighed tiredly as he headed over to one of the other chairs dropping into his seat and rubbing his temples.

"Poor dear," a voice called from the entrance drawing Hans' attention, "I brought you some hot chocolate to warm you up from your journey back."

"Hot Chocolate?"

"Do you not want it," the elderly woman questioned looking slightly guilty, "I'm so used to Princess Anna asking for it I forgot most people have more mature tastes. I can get you something else if you like."

The woman chuckled to herself at the memory as she offered up the sugary drink.

"No that will be quite fine…—"

"Gerda." She answered his unspoken question.

"Thank you Gerda, you've done my weary bones a great service." He sent her one of his most heart melting smiles as he took the drink from the tray.

The head housekeeper smiled back in turn before giving him a quick bow and leaving the room.

Within the next few minutes the council members began slinking tiredly into the meeting room. Most were stifling yawns or rubbing the sleep from their eyes, while others pointed Hans with an annoyed scowl as they entered. Each took their seat trying desperately not to fall back asleep as they waited for the king.

"So what's this about Hans?" one of the officials across from him inquired.

"I rather speak once the king and everyone else arrives if that's fine."

The man nodded in understanding, realizing better than to press the issue and leaned back in his chair.

"It better be good, I have to be up at dawn to start training the new runts." Sir Ivan grumbled aloud making sure Hans could hear him.

Before Hans could reply the king entered the room and everyone rose from their chairs to greet him before taking their seats after the king sat down.

"So what's with all this ruckus going around? And so early, I was just about to retire for the night." King Adgar stated off handedly adjusting his crown on his head.

Hans stood and faced the king, everyone at the table bringing their attention to him to hear why they had been summoned to a meeting so early.

"I have urgent news regarding the party sent up to North Mountain."

"Well spit it out." One of the council members spoke after a long pause.

"The mission failed." Hans spoke softly as he directed his words to the king.

The king's face paled greatly at the information, his body in shock as he looked in disbelief at the young man. He had let his daughter go because he was sure that there wouldn't be anything out there she couldn't handle. If he'd have thought otherwise he'd never had let her go.

"Tell me exactly what happened." He ordered, his voice stern and expression stoic.

Hans described the trip in great detail to the council, not leaving out any details, aside from his overly aggressive acts towards the "bandits". The group listened attentively to each word that came from his mouth, slight murmurs here and there about high points in the journey, though they waited eagerly for the climax of the journey that spurred on the need for the meeting. So far from what Hans described the mission seemed to be a success.

They all quieted when Hans paused, his expression grave as he cleared his throat.

"The Ice Witch butchered everyone your majesty," he stated gravely, "the snow we were standing on came to life and attacked us, I left before I was killed, I doubt anyone survived. I'm sorry."

Silence and dread hung over the room like a thick blanket. The council members looking to gauge the king's reaction to this news. Hans sat back in his seat head hung low as he waited for someone to talk.

"We must figure out what to do next, your highness," the general spoke up, "winter will be upon us soon, and without the trade route open we might not have enough supplies for the citizens of Arendelle."

"I understand, Sir Ivan," the king replied wearily eyes filled with sadness though he kept his regal poise, "we shall discuss this in the morning. You are all dismissed."

"Except for you Hans."

The council members bowed quickly before shuffling out of the room as quickly as possible. As they filed out the auburn rose slowly from his chair before approaching the king as formally as possible.

"What can I do for you, your majesty?"

"I just want to thank you for bringing back the news, though it was bad news, I rather have knowledge of what happened than to never know at all…it must have been hard to leave your comrades but you did the right thing. That is all, have a good evening I'll have Gerda or Kai show you to where you'll be staying."

"Thank you very much."

The king rose from his chair and slowly made his way out of the room, mumbling to one of the servants outside the room to get Gerda or Kai.

Hans waited in the room alone for a few minutes before Gerda padded back into the room and motioned for him to follow her.

The walk was mostly quiet through the dark halls, Gerda making small talk and telling stories of her years working in the castle while Hans trailed behind acknowledging her without adding any input himself.

"This will be your room for however long you stay here," Gerda stated opening the door for the young man, "is there anything I can get you?"

He wearily shook his head telling her he had everything he needed and retired to the room. The interior was hard to make out in the darkness and he cautiously made his way to the bed, trying not to bump into anything. The auburn sighed as he removed his shoes and thick coat letting it drop to the ground.

"Tomorrow will be quite a long day, so much to do, but I have all the time in the world now." he mused aloud as he climbed beneath the covers, closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep.

A light rapping at the wooden door of the noble's chambers had Hans making his way back into consciousness. Rays of sunshine filtered through the curtains of his chambers causing him to groan slightly at the uncomfortable lighting.

"Are you alright in there?" a voice asked from the other side of the door.

"Yes, quite alright, is someone in need of me?" He yawned and stretched his back.

"I've been sent to collect you sir…for the meeting." The voice quivered slightly as if afraid of angry repercussion at the news.

"Ah, I see," Hans answered rubbing his eye tiredly, "I'll be ready in a few moments, please have some coffee set at my seat in the meeting room."

The auburn heard the pattering of shoes against the cold floors and assumed the servant had left to go about their task. He sighed throwing the covers off of himself and going about the room getting ready as quickly as he could.

Upon completion of him donning his formal attire he set down the halls to the meeting room, taking a few wrong turns here and there, but making it to the hall in a decent amount of time.

Opening the door to the meeting room he became bombarded with loud chattering, mostly consisting of angry tones and exasperated sighs. None noticed the young noble walking in and taking a seat in his empty chair. A servant came up to him placing a steaming mug of coffee before him and he smiled his appreciation. Hans listened to the bickering surrounding him, the noise so loud he feared he might lose his hearing.

Sir Ivan was yelling at the top of his lungs about the immediate action needed to take down the Ice Witch, slamming his fist on the table trying to prove that this should be their first course of action. The treasurer and foreign dignitaries agreeing with him that opening the trade route, or finding a new trade route, needed to be done immediately. The older council members, mostly those in charge of internal affairs and the public urged that a new heir was of the utmost importance to acquire, without a sure line of succession, the throne would be put in danger. All the while the king sat in his chair rubbing at his temples and listening silently, a few tired sighs escaping his mouth every now and then.

Hans watched in pure fascination and amusement as the council room became a madhouse, men turning blue in the face from their constant bickering. He chuckled to himself as he imagined one of them fainting from lack of breath. The sound of his chuckles slowly started to register to the room, and the yelling died down as everyone looked at Hans with questioning looks on their faces.

"What's so funny about this, boy?" One of the heavier council members asked anger tittering on his tone.

"Nothing is funny I assure you sir, I suppose I just expected the noble gentry of Arendelle to have a little more control, than to start bickering like a hoard of children arguing over a toy." The auburn replied coolly, though his eyes were daring and aggressive.

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you," the man sneered back slowly rising from his chair, "just because you're the late Duke Bachuss' son doesn't give you any higher status here, learn your place whelp."

"Quiet down Baron, the boy at least silenced you all, so if anything he's accomplished more in this meeting than any of the rest of you," the king spoke and all the council members sat down in their chair, slight shame framing their features, "so Hans, what do you think would be the best course of action, surely you have an opinion on this."

Han's paused for a moment, thinking over the possibilities of what could be done in this situation. The facts were splayed out in front of him and he sifted through them in his mind to figure out the best one for himself.

"I…I agree with Lord Markus, an heir to the throne is—"

Yelling erupted again from a good portion of the council members, cutting off Hans, each trying to scream their way to proving their idea was right. But they were all effectively silenced when the king raised his hand and gave the members warning looks.

"Please continue Hans, what is your reasoning behind this?"

"Though attacking the Ice Palace seems like a good idea, from what I've witnessed we'd only be sending soldiers to their deaths." Hans began speaking powerfully to his audience, "Also another important point is that by now other kingdoms boarding our own will have noticed that our major terrestrial trade route is now compromised, making us a prime target for any of our neighboring kingdoms that may want to attack, and without a new heir we are at a very high disadvantage."

The council members nodded their heads in agreement with his words, though some huffed at clearly losing the argument. When Hans finished he trained his eyes on the king waiting for a response.

Silence filled the room as everyone waited for the king to speak, watching him as he stroked his beard in deep thought and fidgeted with one of his rings. His features seemed sullen and deflated the more he thought until he went to speak.

"All of this is true, but I wouldn't feel right if I abandoned my daughter so quickly, without any knowledge if she is alive or not."

"If I may speak freely your majesty," Sir Ivan started waiting on the king's approval to continue; the king nodded. "Princess Anna was never a perfect heir, being a woman for one, but she was not made for holding power, she's too gentle; even if she did return I don't see her being a great successor to your legacy."

"Do all of you feel this way?"

The council hummed and nodded in agreement with the general.

"I see," the king replied, "what would you have me do then, I will not overrun this castle with suitors like in my younger years."

A thought clicked into Hans' brain as the king spoke. He cleared his throat after the king finished to get everyone's attention.

"Perhaps we can all agree on one suitable woman, one that your highness approves of as well who can provide an heir. Would that be doable?"

Once again the council members voiced their approval of the idea. The king nodding in acceptance of the proposal too and he relaxed in his chair.

"Does any of you have a suggestion for such a woman?"

"Well she'd need to be unwed," Hans thought aloud, making sure everyone could hear him, "probably not too young and be educated on current affair, so as to better complement his majesty, someone well respected in Arendelle to appease the public."

"What about Lady Julianna?" a council member piped in, "Daughter of the late Baron Rodney, she's very much liked throughout Arendelle, and has been widowed since the death of Duke Bachuss. Isn't that right Hans? Seeing as she is your mother, you should know more than I."

"Yes it is, she's also very well versed in the politics of Arendelle and can be a great asset to your highness."

"I suppose that's reasonable," King Adgar hummed, "I will give her a chance, though I will not rush into this without more information on my daughter. Until she is proven dead I won't give up on her. You are all dismissed."

Everyone nodded at the king's words before rising from their chairs. They all shuffled out silently closing the door behind them.

"If it would please you, your majesty, I will go collect my mother from our estate and bring her here personally." Hans asked as he headed for the door.

"Yes of course, that is fine."

On his way out he saw a messenger running towards the meeting hall as fast as his legs could carry him. The young man running in a frantic manner as he burst through the doors of the hall. The auburn paused to the side of the door curious as to the message that the messenger was sent to deliver.

"Your majesty," the messenger huffed almost falling over as he quickly bowed, "we have two survivors from North Mountain at the gate…they wish to speak with you."

"So my daughter is not there I'm assuming?" The king asked sadly, already knowing the answer.

The messenger shook his head mirroring the king's expression. "Should I bring them in?" The king nodded once and the messenger bolted from the room again towards the gates.

A grimace formed on Hans' face as the messenger left. He had been quite sure he'd be the only survivor, but now there were two more survivors; he'd have to keep an eye on them, though he wasn't too worried. Neither Alexander nor Olaf had seen him run off and leave, and the princess wasn't here so she probably hadn't survived, nothing really hindering on his new plan to gain a better life for himself.

Hans righted himself from his position by the door and strolled down the halls heading to the stables to ask for a carriage to be prepared for his journey to get his mother. He smiled to himself the whole way looking forward to the end result of this impromptu plan; if all went well, soon he'd be a royal with a castle of his own to call home.

xXx

Olaf and Alexander were quickly led to the meeting hall, being herded to the king by the messenger. They walked as quickly as they could behind him while still letting the decorum and details of Arendelle Castle sink in. The extravagant moldings of the ceiling and beautiful tile floors that acted as a mirror to those who walked upon it, sent the two men for a loop, neither thinking they would find themselves in such a place.

"I wish Marshall could've seen this." Olaf spoke softly and tried to forcibly hold back tears that threatened to fall.

At the shorter man's words Alexander reached down and gave Olaf's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and a small sympathetic smile. After some time navigating through the hall the messenger finally brought them to a set of large carved double doors. He opened the door for them, announced their arrival, and quickly departed from the room after a rushed bow to the king.

The pair entered timidly looking upon their ruler and shuffling to the end of the large wooden table. They were tense and after a few moments remembered to bow to their sovereign, who was looking over them with a look neither of them could put an emotion to.

"So I hear you have news of what transpired at North Mountain?" the king's voice rang throughout the hall, making the two men tense at the volume.

"Yes your majesty." Alexander answered with a sure voice.

"Well do tell, is my daughter still alive?"

"Yes, she is well—"

The king sighed contently visibly relaxing at the news, his sullen features gaining some color as an invisible weight was lifted from his shoulders. A faint chuckle leaving his lips at the elation.

"though in a dangerous situation, your majesty."

"What kind of dangerous situation?" the king asked quickly his posture going quickly to that of a reserved monarch.

"She traded her life for ours, your majesty, she made a deal with the witch to stay there with her for our safe return, though I do not know what the deal is exactly."

"That sounds like something she'd do," he hummed in response to the younger man's statement, "she is otherwise alright?"

"From what I've seen yes, though we did in fact accomplish our mission, your majesty, Princess Anna was able to convince the witch to stop attacking traders in the North Mountain Pass as part of their deal."

"Excellent!" the king exclaimed a proud smile on his face, he rose from his chair and eagerly made his way over to the two men.

"This is splendid news in more ways than one, though I am curious, what do you boys plan on doing now, I would not be surprised to find you discouraged from your plan to become guards, from the look in your eyes, from what I can see, it must have been a dreadful experience that I can't imagine."

"Yes, your majesty, we promised the princess we would continue on with our guard training, and I make sure not to break my promises." Alexander's expression as he spoke reminded King Adgar of Anna; not many people had such determination that the king knew, determination as strong as steel.

"And you boy, you feel the same way?"

Olaf nodded solemly, but firmly, thinking back to the amount of enthusiasm him and his brother had had over the years for being able to join the guard to better their lives.

"It's what my brother would want me to do, and I don't plan on letting him down." A small smile came to his face as he spoke.

"Very well then boys, I will let Sir Ivan know to expect you two there first thing in the morning," he smiled kindly, seeing little bits of his daughter in the two, "until then talk to one of the servants to get something in your stomachs, you'll need all the energy you can get for tomorrow."

Both Alexander and Olaf bowed deeply to the king, expressing their gratitude before heading quickly down the hall to the kitchens.


End file.
